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NIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO

3 1822 00194 842

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THE ADVENTURES OF

LOUIS DE ROUGEMONT

Digitized by tine Internet Arcliive

in 2007 witli funding from

IVIicrosoft Corporation

littp://www.arcliive.org/detaiJs/advoflouisderougOOrougiala

LOUIS DE ROUGEMONT

The Adventures of

Louis de Rougemont

As Told by Himself

With Forty-six Illustrations

London

George Newnes, Limited

Southampton Street, Strand
1899

[^// rights reserveJ']

rtinted by BallantYNE, HANSON &■ CO,
At the Ballantyne Press

Dedication

To my Devoted Jl'^ife,

YAMBA,

The Noblest JVork of the Creator^

A GOOD WOMAN,

And to her People, my True and Steadfast Friends,

nvho never ivavered in their confidence or

attachment, and to ivhom I oive the

Preservation of my Lfe,

THIS WORK
Is gratefully Dedicated

PREFACE

As it fell to the lot of the writer of these lines to
^ *- " discover " the remarkable man whose adven-
tures are dealt with in this volume, a few words
about M. de Rougemont's first appearance in the
editorial offices of the "Wide World Magazine"
may be of interest.

It was about four in the afternoon of a late
spring day when a timid tap came at my door, and
a man of striking appearance entered. Without a
word he handed me a note from my friend Mr. J.
Henniker Heaton, M.P., whom, it appeared, he had
seen two or three times at the Carlton Club. My
visitor explained that every one in Sydney had
advised him to seek out the well-known M.P. on
arrival in London.

I questioned the man. He said he had a remark-
able story to tell — thirty years among the cannibals
of unexplored Australia. His manner was quiet
and courteous and his accent foreign. Adroit traps

X PREFACE

set for him in conversation only resulted in the
absolute conviction that he was speaking the truth,
and actually had experienced the adventures he
spoke of. My shorthand writer commenced taking
down the story next day, and it is acknowledged
on all hands that no narrative of adventure ever
published contains so extraordinary an amount of
incident in it — incident of so remarkable a kind,
and so abundant in detail, that it is impossible
to suppose it could never have happened to the
narrator.

Next I introduced M. de Rougement into scien-
tific circles, in the sincere belief that his narrative
would be of interest and value to the sciences of
Geography and Anthropology. There was, however,
another obvious motive which it would be absurd
on my part to ignore. A few weeks later M. de
Rougemont was the most discussed man in all
Europe. The Swiss Cantons glowed with pride on
his account, and the great journals of France, point-
ing to the world-renowned man, threw back at us
our old gibe that a Frenchman cannot successfully
colonise or rule savage races.

There are many men in England who know
Australia. Most of these wanted to get at De
Rougement in order to overwhelm him ; many had

PREFACE xi

the opportunity, and were soon converted into de-
voted adherents. The man was, in fact, a veritable
Mahdi among the sceptics — those sceptics, that is,
who had opportunities of conversing with him.

WILLIAM G. FITZ-GERALD.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

Early life — Leaving home — I meet Jensen — I go pearling —
Daily routine — Submarine beauties — A fortune in pearls —
Seized by an octopus — Shark-killing extraordinary — Trading
with the natives — Impending trouble — Preparing for the
attack — Baffling the savages ......

CHAPTER II

The three black pearls — The fatal morning — ^Jensen and his
flotilla drift away — Alone on the ship — " Oil on the troubled
waters" — A substitute for a rudder — Smoke signals — The
whirlpool — The savages attack — I escape from the blacks —
A strange monster — The Viiellaitd strikes a reef — Stone-
deaf through the big wave — I leap into the sea — How Bruno
helped me ashore— The dreary island — My raft — A horrible
discovery ...... ... 27

CHAPTER III

On the wreck — Efforts to kindle a fire — My flagstaff — Clothing
impossible — Growing corn in turtles' blood — My house of
pearl shells — How the pelicans fished for me — Stung by a
"sting-rae" — My amusements — A peculiar clock — Threat-
ened madness — I begin to build a boat — An appalling blunder
— Riding on turtles — Preaching to Bruno — Canine sympathy
— A sail — How I got fresh water — Sending messages by the
pelicans — A wonderful almanac — A mysterious voice of hope
— Human beings at last ....... 48

xiv CONTENTS

CHAPTER IV

PAGE

try to revive my visitors — Demonstrations of amazement — A
variety entertainment — Evil spirits in the mirror — "The star
above my home" — "Preliminary canter" with the boat — A
joyful procession — " Good-bye to my island home " — Nearing
the main — Among the cannibals — Smoke telegraphy — A
weird audience — A nation meets me — My first palace . . 71

CHAPTER V

Some queer dishes — Water wizards — A mysterious deputation —
I protest against cannibalism — My marriage ceremony — A
startling proposition — Daily routine — A diet of worms — I
proceed cautiously — The cannibal poet sells his wares —
Fishing extraordinary — How emus were caught — Eternal
fires — A coming horror — The fiist cannibal feast .

CHAPTER VI

A weird duel — The tragedy of the baby whale — My boat is
destroyed — -A ten miles' swim — Gigantic prizes — Swimming
in the whale's head — I make use of the visitors — A fight
with an alligator — The old craving — Bitter disappointment —
My mysterious "flying spears'' — Dog-like fidelity — I present
my "card" — The desert of red sand . . . ' . .114

CHAPTER VII

The agonies of thirst — A ghastly drink — I ask Yamba to kill me
— My ministering angel — How Yamba caught opossum —
The water witch — A barometer of snakes — The coming
deluge — The plunge into the Rapids — A waste of waters —
A fearful situation — Barking alligators — English-speaking
natives — A ship at last — I abandon hope — The deserted
settlement .......... 134

CONTENTS XV

CHAPTER VIII

PAGE

In the throes of fever^A ghastly discovery — Pitiful relics — A
critical moment — Yamba in danger — A blood bath — A
luxury indeed — Signs of civilisation — The great storm —
Drifting, drifting — Yamba's mysterious glee — A dreadful
shock — " Welcome home ! " — My official protectors — Myself
as a cannibal war chief — Preparations for battle — A weird
apparition — Generosity to the vanquished — The old desire . 155

CHAPTER IX

The children's sports — A terrible ordeal — Queer notions of
beauty — How little girls are taught — Domestic quarrels —
Telltale footprints — I grow weary — Off on a long cruise —
Astounding news — A foreign tongue — Yamba has seen the
girls — A remarkable "letter" — A queer notion of decoration
— Yamba as "advance agent" — I meet the girls — A dis-
tressing interview — ^Jealousy of the native women . . 175

CHAPTER X

Miss Rogers begins her story — An interview on the high seas —
Drifting to destruction — The ship disappears — Tortured by
thirst — A fearful sight — Cannibals on the watch — The blacks
quarrel over the girls — Courting starvation — Yamba goes
for help — A startling announcement — Preparations for the
fight — Anxious moments — A weird situation — " Victory, vic-
tory"— A melodramatic attitude — The girls get sore feet . 199

CHAPTER XI

Easier travel — The girls improve — How the blacks received them
— A large hut — A dainty dish — What might have been —
The girls decorate their home — Bruno as a performer
— '* A teacher of swimming" — How we fought depression —
Castles in the air — A strange concert — Trapping wild-cats
— The girls' terror of solitude — P'ervent prayer — A goose-
skin football — How I made drums ..... 222

xvi CONTENTS

CHAPTER XII

PAGE

The girls in sun-bonnets— I advise the blacks — Fatal excitement
— Last moments — The catastrophe — I cannot realise it — A
fearful contrast — "Only a withered flower" — Bruno's grief
— Steering by the ant-hills — Avoiding the forests — Myriads of
rats — The flowing of the tide — Rats and the native children
— Clouds of locusts — Fish from the clouds .... 244

CHAPTER XIII

My usual introduction — A serious entertainment — The power of
the bow — Repulsive blacks — Mysterious spears — Waterless
wastes — A battle with snakes — More prestige — Rubies
thrown away — Quarrying extraordinary .... 264

CHAPTER XIV

An eventful meeting — Civilisation at last — Rage and despair —
A white man's tracks — ^Yamba's find — Good Samaritans —
Bitter disappointment — Bruno as guardian — A heavy burden
— A strange invitation — The mysterious monster — "Come,
and be our chief" — ^I discover a half-caste girl — The fate of
Leichhardt — " In the valley of the shadow" — A sane white
man — Gibson is dying — Vain efforts — Unearthly voices . 2S4

CHAPTER XV

Lost in the desert — Gibson's dying advice — Giles meets Gibson
— A fountain in the desert — A terrible fix — Giles regains
his camp — Gibson's effects — Mysterious tracks — A treasured
possession — A perfect paradise — Grape vines a failure — A
trained cockatoo — An extraordinary festival — My theory of
the " ghosts " 308

CONTENTS xvii

CHAPTER XVI

PAGE

A teacher of English — Myself as a black-fellow — I rest content
— An unknown terror — Manufacture of gunpowder — A
curious find — The fiery raft — In the lair of snakes — A dan-
gerous enemy — An exciting scene — A queer sport — Respect
for the victor — A vain hope — Sore disappointment — Yamba
in danger — A strange duel — My opponent greets me . . 329

CHAPTER XVn

Mosquitoes and leeches — I explain pictures — An awkward ad-
mission— My great portrait — The stomach as a deity — The
portrait a success — A colossal statue of " H.R.H." — Fish
without eyes — A sad reflection — A strange illusion — A grave
danger — I sink a well — " Universal provider " — A significant
phenomena — Bruno as accomplice — I find Bruno dead . . 349

CHAPTER XVni

I make a perambulator — Meeting with whites — A dreadful habit
— The miracle of Moses — Preparing a demonstration —
An expectant audience — Yamba growing feeble — One tie
snapped — Yamba's pathetic efforts — Vain hopes — Yamba
dying — Nearing the end — My sole desire — A mass of gold
— I seek trousers and shirt — An interesting greeting — A
startling question — Towards Mount Margaret — The French
Consul — I reach London ....... 372

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Louis de Rougemont

Frontispiece

PAGE

I arranged to go pearl-fishing ...... 4

The octopus and the boat

Jensen's charge of grape-shot

Attacked by savages

How Bruno helped me .

Building my house

Wild delight

Riding on a turtle .

(>■>

My secondary skin

Great excitement .

Approaching the new country

The feast ....

102

The engagement became general

109

Settling a quarrel .

Burning thirst

128

Alligators peering at us

145

Catching water-fowl

153

The enemy turned and fled

171

Abusing the husband .

181

Paintings on the rocks .

187

An original letter

193

She gave a lurch and completely disappeared

206

A deadly combat .

217

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Disposing of the chief .

Making the chairs

Dressing my hair

Fashionable costumes

I haunted the sea-shore for hours

A living bridge

One after another they came

Civilisation at last

An accidental discovery

Mr. Ernest Giles

Mr. W. H. Tietkins .

An extraordinary festival

A strange performance

Camels in the desert

An extraordinary portrait

A water famine

Death of Bruno

The perambulator .

Setting fire to rocks and stones

As young as ever .

" Good-bye, my husband, I am going "

" Halloa, boys ! have you room for me ? "

PAGE
219

228

252
260

275
286
300
310
311
325
339
343
353
363
370
374
379
385
387
393

THE ADVENTURES OF
LOUIS DE ROUGEMONT

CHAPTER I

Early life — Leaving home — I meet Jensen — I go pearling — Daily
routine — Submarine beauties — A fortune in pearls — Seized by an
octopus — Shark-killing extraordinary — Trading with the natives
— Impending trouble — Preparing for the attack — Baffling the
savages.

I WAS born in or near Paris, in the year 1844. My
father was a fairly prosperous man of business —
a general merchant, to be precise, who dealt largely in
shoes ; but when I was about ten years old, my mother,
in consequence of certain domestic differences, took
me to live with her at Montreux, and other places in
Switzerland, where I was educated. I visited many of
the towns near Montreux, including Lausanne, Geneva,
Neufchatel, &c. The whole of the time I was at
school I mixed extensively with English boys on
account of their language and sports, both of which
attracted me.

Boys soon begin to display their bent, and mine,
curiously enough, was in the direction of geology. I
was constantly bringing home pieces of stone and

2 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

minerals picked up in the streets and on the moun-
tains, and asking questions about their origin and
history. My dear mother encouraged me in this, and
later on I frequently went to Freiburg, in the Black
Forest, to get a practical insight into smelting. When
I was about nineteen, however, a message arrived
from my father, directing me to return to France and
report myself as a conscript ; but against this my
mother resolutely set her face. I fancy my father
wanted me to take up the army as a career, but in
deference to my mother's wishes I remained with her in
Switzerland for some time longer. She and I had many
talks about my future, and she at length advised me
to take a trip to the East, and see what the experience
of travel would do for me. Neither of us had any
definite project in view, but at length my mother gave
me about 7000 francs and I set out for Cairo, intend-
ing eventually to visit and make myself acquainted
with the French possessions in the Far East. My
idea was to visit such places as Tonkin, Cochin-China,
Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, &c. My mother was
of the opinion that if I saw a bit of the world in this
way I would be more inclined to settle down at home
with her at the end of my wanderings. The primary
cause of my going away was a little love episode.
Whilst at Montreux I fell in love with a charming
young lady at a boarding-school near my home. She
was the daughter of some high personage in the court of
Russia — but exactly what position he held I cannot say.
My mother was quite charmed with the young lady and
viewed our attachment with delight. But when my
father heard of the matter he raised a decided objec-
tion to it, and ordered me to return to France and join

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 3

the army. He had, as I have previously intimated,
made his own plans for my future, even to the
point of deciding upon a future wife for me, as is
customary in France ; but I resolutely declined to con-
form to his wishes in this respect, and my mother
quite sided with me. I never quite knew how he got
to hear of my love affair, but I conclude that my
mother must have mentioned it to him. I only stayed
a few days in the wonderful metropolis of Egypt ; its
noises, its cosmopolitanism, its crowds — these, and
many other considerations, drove me from the city, and
I set out for Singapore.

I had not been many days in that place when,
chancing to make inquiries at a store kept by a Mr.
Shakespeare, I was casually introduced to a Dutch
pearl-fisher named Peter Jensen. Although I describe
him as a Dutch pearler I am somewhat uncertain as
to his exact nationality. I am under the impression
that he told me he came from Copenhagen, but in
those days the phrase " Dutchman " had a very wide
application. If a man hailed from Holland, Sweden,
Norway, or any neighbouring country, he was always
referred to as a Dutchman. This was in 1863. We
grew quite friendly, Jensen and I, and he told me he had
a small forty-ton schooner at Batavia, in which sturdy
little craft he used to go on his pearling expeditions.

"I am now," he said, "about to organise a trip to
some untouched pearling grounds off the south of New
Guinea, but have not sufficient capital to defray the
preliminary expenses."

This hint I took, and I offered to join him. He
at once agreed, and we commenced our preparations
without delay — in Batavia. Now when a pearler en-

4 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

gaged a crew of native divers there in those days, he had
to deposit beforehand with the Dutch Government a
certain sum for each man entering his service, this

I ARRANGED io (.() I'KARI.-FISHING

money being a guarantee that the man would get his
wages. Well, I placed all the money that I had with
me at Captain Jensen's disposal, provided he gave me
a share in the venture we were about to undertake.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 5

** We will not," he said to me in Singapore, ** draw up
an agreement here, but will do so at Batavia," and
forthwith we set sail for that place. Before leaving
Singapore, however, Jensen bought some nautical in-
struments he could not get at Batavia — including
compasses, quadrant, chronometer, &c. Strange to
say, he did not tell me that his ship was named the
Veielland until we had arrived at Batavia. Here the
contract was duly drawn up, and the vessel fitted out
for the voyage. I fancy this was the first time
Jensen had embarked on a pearling expedition on a
craft of the size of the Veielland^ his previous trips
having been undertaken on much smaller vessels,
say of about ten tons. Although the fitting out of
the ship was left entirely in his hands, I insisted upon
having a supply of certain stores for myself put aboard
— things he would never have thought about. These
included such luxuries as tinned and compressed
vegetables, condensed milk, &c. Jensen did not even
think of ship's biscuits until I called his attention to
the oversight. He demurred at first about buying
them, but I told him I would not go until we had
the biscuits aboard. Jensen was a very bluff", enig-
matic sort of fellow, as I afterwards found out. He
was of a sullen, morose nature, and I could never get
much out of him about his past. He would not speak
about himself under any circumstances, and at no
time of our acquaintance was he any sort of a sociable
companion. He was very hard upon the sailors
under him, and was much addicted to the use of
strong language. I admit that I was an absolute
"muff"" in those days, and Jensen was quick to grasp
the fact. He was very fond of schnapps, whilst I

6 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

hated the smell of the stuff. Moreover, he was a
great smoker, and here again our tastes differed.

Our preparations in Batavia complete, we next
went over to the islands of the Dutch Archipelago,
and engaged forty experienced Malay divers to accom-
pany us. Jensen was very particular in selecting the
men, each being required to demonstrate his capabili-
ties before us. The way he tested them prior to
actually engaging them was to make each dive
after a bright tin object thrown into so many fathoms
of water. Altogether he spent several weeks choosing
his crew. He had engaged a couple of Malays at
Batavia to help in the work of navigating the ship,
but besides being sailors these men were also good
divers. The majority of the other Malays were only
useful as divers, and took no part in the working of
the ship. A native serang, or " boss," was appointed
as chief, or foreman, over the Malays, and he was
permitted to take with him his wife and her maid.
This "serang" had to be a first-class diver himself,
and had also to be acquainted with the manoeuvring
of a small boat. He was also required to have a
smattering of navigation generally. Above all, he had
to be able to assert authority over the other divers;
and in all these respects our serang was thoroughly
proficient.

I may here explain that shortly after leaving Batavia
the captain had the ship repainted a greyish-white
colour all over. I never troubled to look for her
name, but one day I saw Jensen painting the word
Veielland on her. There was a totally different name
on the lifeboat, but I cannot remember it. What
Jensen's motive was in sailing the ship under another

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 7

name I never understood ; certainly it was a very
suspicious circumstance. Perhaps the ship as origi-
nally named had a bad name, and if such were the
case — mind you, I don't say that it had — the Malays
could never have been induced to go aboard. Once
out at sea, however, they would be absolutely at the
mercy of the captain, and he could treat them just as
he pleased. The first thing they did before coming
aboard was to look at the name for themselves. No
doubt they knew the reputation of every pearler.
Jensen did on one occasion exercise his authority to
the extent of transferring some of his own Malay
divers to another ship when we were out at sea.

At last everything was ready, and when we sailed
for the pearling grounds, our crew numbered forty-
four all told, not including a fine dog that belonged to
the captain. This dog, which played so important —
nay, so vitally important — a part in my strange after-
life, was given to Jensen at Batavia by a Captain
Cadell, a well-known Australian seaman, who had
gained some notoriety by navigating the Murray River
for the first time. Cadell, who was a great friend of
Jensen, was himself a pearler. But he met with a sad
end. He was in a pearling expedition in the neigh-
bourhood of Thursday Island, and among his crew
were some of the very Australian Blacks who in after
years proved so friendly to me. Cadell treated these
men very badl}', keeping them at work long after the
time for their return home had expired, and one day
they mutinied and murdered him whilst he was asleep.
The blackfellow who called himself "Captain Jack
Davies," of whom I shall have more to say hereafter,
was amongst the crew at the time. I obtained this

8 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

information in Sydney from Captain Tucker, a well-
known Torres Straits pearler. Bruno, Jensen's dog,
was something of a greyhound in build, only that
his hind-quarters were heavier.

As you may suppose, my knowledge of seamanship
was very limited indeed, but Jensen interested himself
in me, so that I soon began to pick up a good deal of
useful knowledge. He taught me how to take the
sun, I using his old instruments ; but I could never
grasp the taking of the lunars. On our voyage out
I had no duties to perform on board, but I found much
to interest myself in the beautiful tropical islands
among which we threaded our way ; and I took quite
a childish delight in everything I saw. It was really
a grand time for me. I constantly wrote home to my
mother, the last letter I forwarded to her being from
Koopang. Occasionally we landed on one of the
islands to buy fresh provisions, in the shape of fowls,
pigs, fruit, &c. We then set sail for the coast of New
Guinea. The voyage thence was accomplished without
the slightest hitch, the divers spending most of their
time in singing and playing hke little children, — all in
the best of good spirits. Their favourite form of
amusement was to sit round a large fire, either telling
stories of the girls they had left behind, or singing love
melodies. When the weather was at all cold, they
would make a fire in a rather shallow tub, the sides of
which were lined with a layer of sand. They were a
wonderfully light-hearted lot of fellows, and I greatly
enjoyed listening to their chants and yarns. I was
more often with them than in Jensen's company, and
it did not take me long to pick up bits of their language.

The Veielland only drew between seven feet and

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 9

eight feet of water, so that we were able to venture very
close in-shore whenever it was necessary. At length,
about a month after starting, we reached a likely spot
where the captain thought that the precious shells might
be found ; here we anchored, and the divers quickly
got to work. I ought to have mentioned that we
carried a large whale-boat, and about half-a-dozen frail
little " shell " boats for the use of the divers.

The comings and goings of the various pearling ex-
peditions were of course regulated by the weather and
the state of the tide. The captain himself went out
first of all in the whale-boat, and from it prospected
for shells at the bottom of the crystal sea. The water
was marvellously transparent, and leaning over the
side of the boat, Jensen peered eagerly into his sea-
telescope, which is simply a metal cylinder with a lens
of ordinary glass at the bottom. Some of the sea-
telescopes would even be without this lens, being
simply a metal cylinder open at both ends. Although
they did not bring the objects looked at nearer the
vision, yet they enabled the prospector to see below
the ruffled surface of the water.

The big whale-boat was followed at a respectful
distance by the flotilla of smaller boats, each contain-
ing from four to six Mala3's. When Jensen discerned
a likely spot through his peculiar telescope, he gave
the signal for a halt, and before you could realise
what was going to happen, the native divers had
tumbled out of their boats, and were swinwmtg in a
weird way down to the bottom of the translucent sea.
As a rule, one man was left in each little boat to
follow the movements of the divers as they returned
to the surface. Not only did these divers wear

lo DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

no mechanical "dress," but they used no stimulants
or palliatives of any kind to aid them in their work.
All they carried was a small sheath-knife hung from
the waist by a piece of string. The water for the
most part was only two or three fathoms deep, but
sometimes it would be as much as eight fathoms, —
which was the greatest depth to which the men cared
to go. When he reached the bottom, the diver would
grope about for shells, and generally return to the
surface with a couple, held in his left hand and hugged
against his breast; the right hand was kept free and
directed his movements in swimming. Each diver
seldom remained under water more than one minute,
and on coming to the surface he would take a " spell "
of perhaps a quarter of an hour before going down
again.

As fast as each man brought his shells into the boat,
they were put into a separate little pile, which wag re-
spected absolutely, and always recognised as belonging
to its owner. The bed of the sea at these pearling
grounds is usually coral, with innumerable holes of
different depths and sizes dotted all over it. It was in
these recesses that the best shells were mostly found.

The marine vegetation down in these seas was
always of extreme beauty; there were stately "trees"
that waved backwards and forwards, as though under
the influence of a gentle breeze; there were high,
luxuriant grasses, and innumerable plants of endless
variety and colour. The coral rocks, too, were of
gorgeous hues — yellow, blue, red, and white ; but a
peculiar thing was that the moment you brought a
piece of this rock up to the surface, the lovely colour
it possessed whilst in the water gradually faded away.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF ii

Some of the coral I saw had curious little shoots hang-
ing from its numerous projections bearing a striking
resemblance to bluebells.

The illusion of a submarine forest was further
heightened by the droves of gaily-coloured fish that
flitted in and out among the branches. Perhaps the
most beautiful of all were the little dolphins. The
diving expeditions went away from the ship with the
ebb tide, and returned with the flow. Sometimes their
search would take them long distances away, and on
one occasion they were working fully ten miles from
the Veielland. When the water suddenly became
rough, rendering the divers unable to paddle their
own little skiffs back to the ship, they made their way
to the whale-boat, clambered aboard, and returned in
her, trailing their own craft at the stern. The boats,
however, were not always brought back to the ship at
night; as a rule they were buoyed near the pearling
beds, whilst the divers returned to their quarters
aboard. I might here explain that the sleeping
accommodation for the Malays was both ample and
comfortable. A large room in which the casks of
fresh water were stored was set apart for their
use. These casks were turned on end and a deck of
planks placed over them, on which the Malays laid
their sleeping mats and little wooden pillows. They
ranged themselves twenty a side. But you may be
asking, what was / doing during these pearling expedi-
tions ? Well, I was intrusted with the important duty
of receiving the shells from the men, and crediting
each with the number he delivered. Thus I was
nearly always left alone on the ship — save for the
dog; because even the two Malay women frequently

12 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

went out diving, and they were creditQid for work done
precisely as the men were.

If I had no shells to open whilst the divers were
absent, I filled in my time by sewing sails, which
Jensen himself would cut to the required shape — and
reading, &c. My library consisted of only five books
— a copy of the Bible, and a four-volume medical
work in English by Bell, which I had purchased at
Singapore. I made quite a study of the contents of
this work, and acquired much valuable information,
which I was able to put to good use in after years,
more particularly during my sojourn amongst the
Blacks. Bruno generally sat by my side on deck
when I was alone, — in fact he was nearly always
with me. He took to me more than to Jensen from
the first. Jensen rarely tried to bully me, though of
course I was now very much in his power, as he em-
phatically illustrated one day. A Malay diver had
very much annoyed him, and in his fury he picked up
a heavy broom with a stick fully four feet long, and
felled the poor fellow senseless to the deck with it. I
was shocked at such awful brutality, and ventured to
protest against it. "Captain," I said, "don't do any-
thing like that again whilst I am aboard." Turning
round in a great passion he ordered me to keep my
own counsel, otherwise he would have me put in irons.
But for all that Jensen never again let his temper
get the better of him to such an extent in my presence.
He was always very gruff in his manner, and looked
upon me as the " darndest fool he had ever met."

These divers, by the way, never seemed to trouble
about the value of the treasure they were constantly
bringing to the surface. They thought themselves

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 13

well paid if they were given plenty of rice and fish,
turtles' eggs and fowls, in addition to such luxuries
as spices, coffee, and " Brummagem " jewellery, of a
kind which is too well known to need description. At
the same time it must be admitted that in addition to
their wages, which were paid them when they were
discharged from the ship, the Malays had practically
no opportunity of being dishonest, even though they
might have been inclined that way. They never came
into actual contact with the pearls ; they were re-
warded according to the number of shells brought to
the surface, and not the value of the pearls they
might contain. All the shells were opened by me. A
healthy spirit of rivalry was maintained among the
divers, and the man who had the best record of shells
each week was rewarded with an extra allowance of
rum or tobacco ; a choice of some article of jewellery,
or anything else he fancied from among the stock we
had on board. A bottle of chutney or pickles was
considered a specially valuable delicacy. No money
was ever given to the divers as wages whilst at sea, re-
muneration in kind being always given instead. Each
expedition would be absent perhaps six hours, and on
its return each diver generally had between twenty
and forty shells to hand over to me. These I arranged
in long rows on the deck, and allowed them to remain
there all night. Next day I cleaned them by scraping
off the coral from the shells, and then opened them with
an ordinary dinner-knife. Of course, every oyster did
not produce a pearl ; in fact, I have opened as many
as a hundred consecutive ^ells without finding a
single pearl. The gems are hidden away in the fleshy
part of the oyster, and have to be removed by pressure

14 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

of the thumb. The empty shells are then thrown in a
heap on one side, and afterwards carefully stowed away
in the hold, as they constitute a valuable cargo in
themselves, being worth — at that time, at any rate
(1864) — from ;^200 to ^^250, and even ;^350 a ton.
All the pearls I found I placed in a walnut jewel-case,
measuring about fourteen inches by eight inches by
six inches. The value of the treasure increased day
by day, until it amounted to many thousands of pounds;
but of this more hereafter. I did not know much of
the value of pearls then — how could I, having had no
previous experience ?

Captain Jensen, however, assured me at the end of
the season that we had something like ;^50,ooo worth
of pearls aboard, to say nothing about the value of the
shells, of which we had about thirty tons. It must
be clearly understood that this is Captain Jensen's
estimate — I am utterly unable to give one. The
oysters themselves we found very poor eating, and no
one on board cared about them. Some of the shells
contained one pearl, others two, three, and even four.
One magnificent specimen I came across produced no
fewer than a dozen fine pearls, but that of course was
very exceptional. The largest gem I ever found was
shaped just like a big cube, more than an inch square.
It was, however, comparatively worthless. Actually
the finest specimen that passed through my hands was
about the size of a pigeon's egg, and of exquisite
colour and shape. Some of the pearls were of a
beautiful rose colour, others yellow; but most were
pure white.

The greatest enemy the divers had to fear in those
waters was the dreaded octopus, whose presence occa-

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 15

sioned far greater panic than the appearance of a mere
shark.

These loathsome monsters — call them squids, or
devil-fish, or what you will — would sometimes come
and throw their horrible tentacles over the side of the
frail craft from which the divers were working, and
actually fasten on to the men themselves, dragging
them out into the water. At other times octopuses
have been known to attack the divers down below,
and hold them relentlessly under water until life was
extinct. One of our own men had a terribly narrow
escape from one of these fearful creatures. I must
explain, however, that occasionally when the divers re-
turned from pearl-fishing, they used to rope all their little
skiffs together and let them lie astern of the schooner.
Well, one night the wind rose and rain fell heavily,
with the result that next morning all the little boats
were found more or less water-logged. Some of the
Malays were told off to go and bale them out. Whilst
they were at work one of the men saw a mysterious-
looking black object in the sea, which so attracted his
curiosity that he dived overboard to find out what it
was. He had barely reached the water, however, when
an immense octopus rose into view, and at once made
for the terrified man, who instantly saw his danger,
and with great presence of mind promptly turned and
scrambled back into the boat.

The terrible creature was after him, however, and to
the horror of the onlookers it extended its great flexible
tentacles, enveloped the entire boat, man and all, and
then dragged the whole down into the clear depths.
The diver's horrified comrades rushed to his assist-
ance, and an attempt was made to kill the octopus with

1 6 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

a harpoon, but without success. Several of his more
resourceful companions then dived into the water with

THE OCTOPUS AND THE BOAT

a big net made of stout twine, which they took right
underneath the octopus, entangling the creature and its
still living prey. The next step was to drag up both

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 17

man and octopus into the whale-boat, and this done,
the unfortunate Malay was at length seized by his legs,
and dragged by sheer force out of the frightful embrace,
more dead than alive, as you may suppose. However,
we soon revived him by putting him into a very hot
bath, the water being at such a temperature as actu-
ally to blister his skin. It is most remarkable that the
man was not altogether drowned, as he had been held
under water by the tentacles of the octopus for rather
more than two minutes. But, like all the Malays of
our party, this man carried a knife, which he used to
very good purpose on the monster's body when first it
dragged him under the water. These repeated stabs
caused the creature to keep rolling about on the sur-
face, and the unhappy man was in this way enabled
to get an occasional breath of air ; otherwise he must
infallibly have been drowned. It was a horrible-looking
creature, with a slimy body, and a hideous cavity of a
mouth. It is the tentacles of the creature that are so
dreaded, on account of the immense sucking power
which they possess.

After this incident the divers always took a
tomahawk with them on their expeditions, in order
to lop off the tentacles of any octopus that might try
to attack them in the boats. And, by the way, we
saw many extraordinary creatures during our cruise.
I myself had a serious fright one day whilst indulging
in a swim.

We had anchored in about five fathoms, and as I
was proceeding leisurely away from the vessel at a
slow breast stroke, a monstrous fish, fully twenty feet
long, with an enormous hairy head and fierce, fantastic
moustaches, suddenly reared up out of the water, high

1 8 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

into the air. I must say that the sight absolutely
unmanned me for the moment, and when this extra-
ordinary creature opened his enormous mouth in my
direction, I gave myself up for lost. It did not molest
me, however, and I got back to the ship safely, but it
was some little time before I recovered from the terrible
fright.

Occasionally too we were troubled with sharks, but
the Malays did not appear to be very much afraid of
them. Their great dread was the ground shark, which
lay motionless at the bottom of the sea, and gave
no indication of his presence. The result was that
occasionally the divers would sink down to their
work quite unknowingly almost by the side of one of
these fearful creatures, and in such cases the diver
rarely escaped without injury of some kind. With
regard to the ordinary shark, however, our divers
actually sought them. Their method of capturing them
was almost incredible in its simplicity and daring.
Three or four of our divers would go out in a boat and
allow themselves to drift into a big school of sharks.
Then one man, possessed of more nerve than the rest,
would bend over the side and smartly prick the first one
he came across with a spear taken out for the purpose.
The moment he had succeeded in this the other
occupants of the boat would commence yelling and
howling at the top of their voices, at the same time
beating the water with their paddles, in order to
frighten away the sharks. This invariably succeeded,
but, amazing to relate, the shark that had been pricked
always came back alone a few minutes later to see
what it was that had pricked him. Care has to be
taken not to inflict a very severe wound, because the

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 19

moment the other sharks taste the blood of a wounded
companion, they will immediately turn upon him and
eat him. When the inquisitive shark is seen coming
in the direction of the boat, the Malay who has ac-
costed him in this way quietly jumps overboard, armed
only with his small knife and a short stick of hard
wood, exactly like a butcher's skewer, about five inches
in length, and pointed at each end.

The man floats stationary on the surface of the sea,
and, naturally, the shark makes for him. As the
creature rolls over to bite, the wily Malay glides out of
his way with a few deft strokes of the left hand, whilst
with the right he deliberately plants the pointed skewer
in an upright position between the open jaws of the ex-
pectant monster. The result is simple, but surprising.
The shark is, of course, unable to close its mouth, and
the water just rushes down his throat and chokes
him, in consequence of the gills being forced back so
tightly as to prevent the escape of water through them
in the natural way. Needless to remark, it requires
the greatest possible coolness and nerve to kill a shark
in this way, but the Malays look upon it as a favourite
recreation and an exciting sport. When the monster
is dead its slayer dexterously climbs on to its back,
and then, digging his knife into the shark's head to
serve as a support and means of balance, the conqueror
is towed back to the ship astride his victim by means
of a rope hauled by his companions in their boats.

After many adventures and much luck in the way of
getting pearls, our food and water supply began to
give out. This induced Captain Jensen to make for
the New Guinea main in order to replenish his stores.
We soon reached a likely spot on the coast, and

20 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

obtained all that we wanted from the natives by means
of barter.

We gave them tomahawks, knives, hoop-iron, beads,
turtles, and bright-coloured cloth. Indeed, so friendly
did our intercourse become that parties of our divers
often went ashore and joined the Papuans in their
sports and games. On one of these occasions I came
across a curious animal that bore a striking resem-
blance to a kangaroo, and yet was not more than
two feet high. It could climb trees like an opossum
and was of the marsupial family. The pigeons, too,
which were very plentiful in these parts, were as large
as a big fowl. The headman, or chief, took quite an
interest in me, and never seemed tired of conversing
with me, and pointing out the beauties of the country.
He even showed me a certain boundary which he
advised us not to pass, as the natives beyond were
not under his control. One day, however, a party
of our Malays, accompanied by myself, imprudently
ventured into the forbidden country, and soon came
to a native village, at which we halted. The people
here were suspicious of us from the first, and when
one of my men indiscreetly offended a native, half
the village rose against us, and we had to beat a
retreat. We were making the best of our way to
the coast again, when the friendly chief came and
met us. He interceded with the indignant tribesmen
on our behalf, and succeeded in pacifying them. On
reaching the ship, which was anchored within a mile
of the coast, Jensen complained to me ominously that
he was getting fairly swamped with natives, who per-
sisted in coming on board with fruit and vegetables for
barter. He said he was getting quite nervous about

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 21

the crowds that swarmed over the vessel, the natives
going up and down as though they had a perfect right
to do so.

"I don't like it," said the captain, "and shall have
to put my foot down."

Next morning, when the usual batch of native
canoes came alongside, we declined to allow a single
man on board. While we were explaining this to them,
our friend the chief himself arrived, accompanied by
half-a-dozen notables, most of whom I knew, to-
gether with the now friendly dignitary whose wrath
we had aroused the previous day. They were all full
of dignity and anticipation. Captain Jensen, how-
ever, was obdurate, and refused permission to any
one to come aboard. That was enough for the chiefs.
They went away in high dudgeon, followed immediately
by all the other canoes and their occupants. When
all had disappeared, a curious stillness came over the
ship, the sea, and the tropical coast, and a strange
sense of impending danger seemed to oppress all
of us. We knew that we had offended the natives,
and as we could not see a single one of them on the
beach, it was pretty evident that they were brooding
over their grievance. We might have weighed anchor
and made for the open sea, only unfortunately there
was a perfect calm, and our sails, which were set
in readiness for a hasty departure, hung limp and
motionless. Suddenly, as we stood looking out
anxiously over the side in the direction of the shore,
we were amazed to see at least twenty fully-equipped
war-canoes, each carrying from thirty to forty warriors,
rounding the headland, some little distance away, and
making straight for our ship. Now my shrewd Dutch

22 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

partner had anticipated a possible attack, and had
accordingly armed all the Malays with tomahawks, in
readiness for any attempt that might be made to board
the schooner. We had also taken off the hatches, and
made a sort of fortification with them round the wheel.

Jensen and I armed ourselves with guns, loaded our
little cannon, and prepared to make a desperate fight
for our lives against the overwhelming odds. In spite
of the danger of our position, I could not help being
struck with the magnificence of the spectacle presented
by the great fleet of boats now fast advancing towards
us. The warriors had all assumed their fighting de-
corations, with white stripes painted round their dusky
bodies to strike terror into the beholder. Their head-
dress consisted of many-coloured feathers projecting
from the hair, which they had matted and caused
to stand bolt upright from the head. Each boat
had a prow about three feet high, surmounted by a
grotesquely carved figure-head. The war-canoes were
propelled by twelve men, paddling on either side.
When the first came within hailing distance I called
out and made signs that they were not to advance
unless their intentions were peaceful. By way of
reply, they merely brandished their bows and arrows
at us. There was no mistaking their mission.

It was now quite evident that we should have to
make a fight for it, and the natives were coming to
the attack in such numbers as easily to overwhelm
us if they once got on board. Our position was
rendered still more awkward by the fact that all
round the ship ropes were hanging down to the
water, up which our divers used to climb on their
return from the day's pearling. These ropes were

It,

jknsen's charge of grape-shot

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 25

attached to a sort of hawser running round the out-
side bulwarks of the ship. We had not even time
to haul these up, and the enemy would certainly
have found them very useful for boarding purposes
had they been allowed to get near enough. It was
therefore very necessary that some decisive step
should be taken at once. While we were debating
what was best to be done, we were suddenly greeted
by a shower of arrows from the leading war-canoe.
Without waiting any longer I fired at the leader,
who was standing in the prow, and bowled him over.
The bullet went right through his body, and then
bored a hole low down in the side of the canoe.
The amazement of the warriors on hearing the report
and seeing the mysterious damage done is quite
beyond description ; and before they could recover
from their astonishment, Jensen sent a charge of
grape-shot right into their midst, which shattered
several of the canoes and caused a general halt in
the advance.

Again I made signs to them not to come nearer, and
they seemed undecided what to do. Jabbering con-
sultations were held, but while they were thus hesitat-
ing ten more canoes swung round the headland, and
their appearance seemed to give the advance-guard
fresh courage.

Once more they made for our ship, but I was ready
for them with the little cannon we had on board ;
it had been reloaded with grape after the first
discharge. With a roar the gun belched forth a
second deadly hail against the advancing savages, and
the effect was to demoralise them completely. One
of the canoes was shattered to pieces, and nearly all

26 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

the men in it more or less seriously wounded ;
whilst the occupants of several other canoes received
injuries.

Quite a panic now ensued, and the fleet of canoes
got inextricably mixed. Several showers of arrows,
however, descended on our deck, and some of them
penetrated the sails, but no one was injured. The
natives were too much afraid to advance any farther,
and as a wind had now sprung up we deemed it time
to make a dash for liberty. We therefore quietly
slipped our anchor and, heading the ship for the
open sea, glided swiftly past the enemy's fleet, whose
gaily decked, though sorely bewildered, warriors greeted
us with a Parthian flight of arrows as we raced by.
In another half-hour we were well out to sea, and able
to breathe freely once more.

CHAPTER II

The three black pearls — The fatal morning — ^Jensen and his flotilla
drift away — Alone on the ship — "Oil on the troubled waters" —
A substitute for a rudder — Smoke signals — The whirlpool — The
savages attack — I escape from the blacks — A strange monster —
The Vit'e//a>!d strikes a reef — Stone deaf through the big wave —
I leap into the sea — How Bruno helped me ashore — The dreary
island — My raft — A horrible discovery.

THIS adventure made our Malay crew very anxious
to leave these regions. They had not forgotten
the octopus incident either, and they now appointed
their serang to wait upon the captain — a kind of " one-
man " deputation — to persuade him, if possible, to sail
for fresh fishing-grounds. At first Jensen tried to per-
suade them to remain in the same latitudes, which is
not to be wondered at, seeing the harvest he had
secured ; but they would not listen to this, and at last
he was compelled to direct his ship towards some other
quarter. Where he took us to I cannot sa}^, but in
the course of another week we dropped anchor in some
practically unexplored pearling grounds, and got to
work once more. Our luck was still with us, and we
continued increasing every day the value of our already
substantial treasure. In these new grounds we found
a particularly small shell very rich in pearls, which
required no diving for at all. They were secured by
means of a trawl or scoop dragged from the stern of

2 8 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

the lifeboat ; and when the tide was low the men
jumped into the shallow water and picked them up at
their ease.

One morning, as I was opening the shells as usual,
out from one dropped three magnificent black pearls.
I gazed at them, fascinated — why, I know not. Ah !
those terrible three black pearls ; would to God they
had never been found ! When I showed them to the
captain he became very excited, and said that, as they
were worth nearly all the others put together, it would
be well worth our while trying to find more like them.
Now, this meant stopping at sea longer than was
either customary or advisable. The pearling season
was practically at an end, and the yearly cyclonic
changes were actually due, but the captain had got the
"pearl fever" very badly and flatly refused to leave.
Already we had made an enormous haul, and in addi-
tion to the stock in my charge Jensen had rows of
pickle bottles full of pearls in his cabin, which he
would sit and gloat over for hours like a miser with
his gold. He kept on saying that there must be
more of these black pearls to be obtained; the three
we had found could not possibly be isolated specimens
and so on. Accordingly, we kept our divers at work
day after day as usual. Of course, I did not know
much about the awful dangers to which we were ex-
posing ourselves by remaining out in such uncertain
seas when the cyclones were due ; and I did not, I
confess, see any great reason why we should not con-
tinue pearling. I was inexperienced, you see.

The pearl-fishing season, as I afterwards learned,
extends from November to May. Well, May came
and went, and we were still hard at work, hoping that

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 29

each day would bring another haul of black pearls to
our store of treasure; in this, however, we were dis-
appointed. And yet the captain became more deter-
mined than ever to find some. He continued to take
charge of the whale-boat whenever the divers went
out to work, and he personally superintended their
operations. He knew very well that he had already
kept them at work longer than he ought to have
done, and it was only by a judicious distribution of
more jewellery, pieces of cloth, &c., that he withheld
them from openly rebelling against the extended stay.
The serang told him that if the men did once go on
strike, nothing would induce them to resume work,
they would simply sulk, he said ; and die out of sheer
disappointment and pettishness. So the captain was
compelled to treat them more amiably than usual. At
the very outside their contract would only be for nine
months. Sometimes when he showed signs of being
in a cantankerous mood because the haul of shells did
not please him, the serang would say to him defiantly,
" Come on ; take it out of me if you are not satisfied."
But Jensen never accepted the challenge. As the days
passed, I thought the weather showed indications of
a change; for one thing, the aneroid began jumping
about in a very uneasy manner. I called Jensen's
attention to the matter, but he was too much interested
in his hunt for black pearls to listen to me.

And now I pass to the fatal day that made me an
outcast from civilisation for so many weary years.
Early one morning in July 1864, Jensen went off as
usual with the whole of his crew, leaving me absolutely
alone in charge of the ship. The women had often
accompanied the divers on their expeditions, and did

30 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

so on this occasion, being rather expert at the work,
which they looked upon as sport.

Whenever I look back upon the events of that
dreadful day, I am filled with astonishment that the
captain should have been so mad as to leave the ship
at all. Only an hour before he left, a tidal wave broke
over the stern, and flooded the cabins with a perfect
deluge. Both Jensen and I were down below at the
time, and came in for an awful drenching. This in
itself was a clear and ominous indication of atmospheric
disturbance ; but all that poor Jensen did was to have
the pumps set to work, and after the cabins were
comparatively dry he proceeded once more to the pearl
banks that fascinated him so, and on which he probably
sleeps to this day. The tide was favourable when he
left, and I watched the fleet of little boats following in
the wake of the whale-boat, until they were some three
miles distant from the ship, when they stopped for
preparations to be made for the work of diving. I
had no presentiment whatever of the catastrophe that
awaited them and me.

A cool, refreshing breeze had been blowing up to
his time, but the wind now developed a sudden vio-
lence, and the sea was lashed into huge waves that
quickly swamped nearly every one of the little cockle-
shell boats. Fortunately, they could not sink, and as
I watched I saw that the Malays who were thus
thrown into the water clung to the sides of the little
boats, and made the best of their way to the big craft
in charge of Captain Jensen. Every moment the sea
became more and more turbulent as the wind quickened
to a hurricane. When all the Malays had scrambled
into the whale-boat, they attempted to pull back to the

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 31

ship, but I could see that they were unable to make
the slightest headway against the tremendous sea that
was running, although they worked frantically at the
oars.

On the contrary, I was horrified to see that they
were gradually drifting away from me, and being
carried farther and farther out across the illimitable
sea. I was nearly distracted at the sight, and I racked
my brains to devise some means of helping them, but
could think of nothing feasible. I thought first of all
of trying to slip the anchor and let the ship drift in
their direction, but I was by no means sure that she
would actually do this. Besides, I reflected, she might
strike on some of the insidious coral reefs that abound
in those fair but terribly dangerous seas. So I came
to the conclusion that it would be better to let her
remain where she was — at least, for the time being.
Moreover, I felt sure that the captain, with his know-
ledge of those regions, would know of some island or
convenient sandbank, perhaps not very far distant, on
which he might run his boat for safety until the storm
had passed.

The boats receded farther and farther from view,
until, about nine in the morning, I lost sight of them
altogether. They had started out soon after sunrise.
It then occurred to me that I ought to put the ship
into some sort of condition to enable her to weather
the storm, which was increasing instead of abating.
This was not the first storm I had experienced on
board the Veielland, so I knew pretty well what to do.
First of all, then, I battened down the hatches; this
done, I made every movable thing on deck as secure
as I possibly could. Fortunately all the sails were

32 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

furled at the time, so I had no trouble with them. By
mid-day it was blowing so hard that I positively could
not stand upright, but had to crawl about on my hands
and knees, otherwise I should have been hurled over-
board. I also attached myself to a long rope, and
fastened the other end to one of the masts, so that in
the event of my being washed into the raging sea, I
could pull myself on board again.

Blinding rain had been falling most of the time, and
the waves came dashing over the deck as though long-
ing to engulf the little ship ; but she rode them all in
splendid style. The climax was reached about two
o'clock, when a perfect cyclone was raging, and the
end seemed very near for me. It made me shudder
to listen to the wind screaming and moaning round
the bare poles of the sturdy little vessel, which
rose on veritable mountains of water and crashed as
suddenly into seething abysses that made my heart
stand still. Then the weather suddenly became calm
once more — a change that was as unexpected as the
advent of the storm itself. The sky, however, con-
tinued very black and threatening, and the sea was
still somewhat boisterous ; but both wind and rain had
practically subsided, and I could now look around me
without feeling that if I stirred I was a doomed man.
I clambered up the lower portion of the main rigging,
but only saw black, turbulent waters, hissing and
heaving, and raging on every side, and seemingly
stretching away into infinity. With terrible force
the utter awfulness and hopelessness of my position
dawned upon me, yet I did not despair. I next
thought it advisable to try and slip my anchor, and
let the ship drift, for I still half-fancied that perhaps

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 33

I might come across my companions somewhere.
Before I could free the vessel, however, the wind
veered completely round, and, to my horror and de-
spair, sent a veritable mountain of water on board, that
carried away nearly all the bulwarks, the galley, the
top of the companion-way, and, worst of all, completely
wrenched oif the wheel. Compasses and charts were
all stored in the companion-way, and were therefore
lost for ever. Then, indeed, I felt the end was near.
Fortunately, I was for'ard at the time, or I must in-
evitably have been swept into the appalling waste of
whirling, mountainous waters. This lashing of myself
to the mast, by the way, was the means of saving my
life time after time. Soon after the big sea^ — which I
had hoped was a final effort of the terrible storm — the
gale returned and blew in the opposite direction with
even greater fury than before. I spent an awful time
of it the whole night long, without a soul to speak to
or help me, and every moment I thought the ship must
go down in that fearful sea. The only living thing on
board beside myself was the captain's dog, which I
could occasionally hear howling dismally in the cabin
below, where I had shut him in when the cyclone first
burst upon me.

Among the articles carried overboard by the big sea
that smashed the wheel was a large cask full of oil,
made from turtle fat, in which we always kept a
supply of fresh meats, consisting mainly of pork and
fowls. This cask contained perhaps twenty gallons,
and when it overturned, the oil flowed all over the
decks and trickled into the sea. The effect was
simply magical. Almost immediately the storm-tossed
waves in the vicinity of the ship, which hitherto had

34 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

been raging mountains high, quieted down in a way
that filled me with astonishment. This tranquillity
prevailed as long as the oil lasted ; but as soon as the
supply was exhausted the giant waves became as
turbulent and mountainous as ever.

All night long the gale blew the ship blindly hither
and thither, and it was not until just before daybreak
that the storm showed any signs of abating. By six
o'clock, however, only a slight wind was blowing, and
the sea no longer threatened to engulf me and my
little vessel. I was now able to look about me, and
see what damage had been done ; and you may imagine
my relief when I found that the ship was still sound
and water-tight, although the bulwarks were all gone,
and she had all the appearance of a derelict. One of
the first things I did was to go down and unloose the
dog — poor Bruno. The delight of the poor creature
knew no bounds, and he rushed madly up on deck,
barking frantically for his absent master. He seemed
very much surprised to find no one aboard besides
myself.

Alas ! I never saw Peter Jensen again, nor the forty
Malays and the two women. Jensen may have es-
caped; he may even have lived to read these lines;
God only knows what was the fate of the unfortunate
fleet of pearl-fishers. Priggish and uncharitable people
may ejaculate : " The reward of cupidity ! " But I say,
"Judge not, lest ye also be judged,"

As the morning had now become beautifully fine, I
thought I might attempt to get out some spare sails.
I obtained what I wanted from the fo'c'sle, and after a
good deal of work managed to " bend " a mainsail and
staysail. Being without compass or chart, however, I

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 35

knew not where I was, nor could I decide what course
to take in order to reach land. I had a vague idea
that the seas in those regions were studded with
innumerable little islands and sandbanks known only
to the pearl-fishers, and it seemed inevitable that I
must run aground somewhere or get stranded upon a
coral reef after I had slipped the cable.

However, I did not see what advantage was to be
gained by remaining where I was, so I fixed from the
stern a couple of long sweeps, or steering oars, twenty-
six feet long, and made them answer the purpose of a
rudder. These arrangements occupied me two or
three days, and then, when everything was completed
to my satisfaction, and the ship was in sailing trim, I
gave the Veielland her freedom. This I managed
as follows : The moment the chain was at its tautest
— at its greatest tension — I gave it a violent blow
with a big axe, and it parted. I steered due west,
taking my observations by the sun and my own
shadow at morning, noon, and evening. For I had
been taught to reckon the degree of latitude from the
number of inches of my shadow. After a time I
altered my course to west by south, hoping that I
might come upon one of the islands of the Dutch
Indies, — Timorland, for instance, but day after day
passed without land coming in sight.

Imagine the situation, if you can : alone on a dis-
abled ship in the limitless ocean, — tortured with doubts
and fears about the fate of my comrades, and filled
witli horror and despair at my own miserable prospects
for the future.

I did not sail the ship at night, but got out a sea-
anchor (using a float and a long coir rope), and lay-to

36 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

while I turned in for a sleep. I would be up at day-
break next morning, and as the weather continued
beautifully fine, I had no difficulty in getting under
way again. At last the expected happened. One
afternoon, without any warning whatsoever, the vessel
struck heavily on a reef. I hurriedly constructed a
raft out of the hatches and spare spars, and put biscuits
and water aboard, after which I landed on the rocks.
When the tide reached its lowest point the stern of
the Veielland was left fully twenty feet out of water,
securely jammed between two high pinnacles of coral
rock. The sight was remarkable in the extreme. The
sails were still set, and the stiff breeze that was blow-
ing dead against them caused them to belly out just as
though the craft were afloat, and practically helped to
keep the vessel in position. The bows were much
higher than the stern, the line of the decks being
at an angle of about forty-five degrees. In this
remarkable situation she remained secure until the
turning of the tide. My only hope was that she
would not suffer from the tremendous strain to which
she was necessarily being subjected. It seemed to
me every minute that she would free herself from
her singular position between the rocks, and glide
down bows foremost into the sea to disappear for
ever. But the sails kept her back. How earnestly
I watched the rising of the waters; and night
came on as I waited. Slowly and surely they crept
up the bows, and the ship graduall}^ assumed her
natural level until at length the stanch little craft
floated safe and sound once more, apparently very
little the worse for her strange experience. And then
away I went on my way — by this time almost schooled

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 37

to indifference. Had she gone down I must inevitably
have succumbed on those coral reefs, for the stock of
biscuits and water I had been able to put aboard the
raft would only have lasted a very few days.

For nearly a fortnight after the day of the great
storm I kept on the same course without experiencing
any unpleasant incident or check, always excepting the
curious threatened wreck which I have just mentioned.

Just before dusk on the evening of the thirteenth
day, I caught sight of an island in the distance —
Melville Island I now know it to be ; and I was
greatly puzzled to see smoke floating upwards ap-
parently from many fires kindled on the beach. I
knew that they were signals of some kind, and at
first I fancied that it must be one of the friendly
Malay islands that I was approaching. A closer
scrutiny of the smoke signals, however, soon con-
vinced me that I was mistaken. As I drew nearer, I
saw a number of natives, perfectly nude, running
wildly about on the beach and brandishing their spears
in my direction.

I did not like the look of things at all, but when I
tried to turn the head of the ship to skirt the island
instead of heading straight on, I found to my vexa-
tion that I was being carried forward by a strong tide
or current straight into what appeared to be a large
bay or inlet. I had no alternative but to let myself
drift, and soon afterwards found myself in a sort of
natural harbour three or four miles wide, with very
threatening coral reefs showing above the surface.
Still the current drew me helplessly onward, and in
a few minutes the ship was caught in a dangerous
whirlpool, round which she was carried several times

38 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

before I managed to extricate her. Next we were
drawn close in to some rocks, and I had to stand
resolutely by with an oar in order to keep the vessel's
head from striking. It was a time of most trying
excitement for me, and I wonder to this day how it
was that the Veielland did not strike and founder then
and there, considering, firstly, that she was virtually a
derelict, and secondly, that there was no living creature
on board to navigate her save myself

I was beginning to despair of ever pulling the
vessel through, when we suddenly entered a narrow
strait. I knew that I was in a waterway between
two islands — Apsley Strait, dividing Melville and
Bathurst Islands, as I have since learned.

The warlike and threatening natives had now been
left behind long ago, and I never thought of meeting
any other hostile people, when just as I had reached
the narrowest part of the waterway, I was startled by
the appearance of a great horde of naked blacks —
giants, every one of them — on the rocks above me.

They were tremendously excited, and greeted me
first of all with a shower of spears. Fortunately, on
encountering the first lot of threatening blacks, I had
prepared a shelter for myself on deck by means of the
hatches reared up endwise against the stanchions, and
so the spears fell harmlessly atound me. Next, the
natives sent a volley of boomerangs on board, but with-
out any result. Some of these curious weapons hit the
sails and fell impotently on the deck, whilst some re-
turned to their throwers, who were standing on the
rocks about fifty yards away, near the edge of the
water. I afterwards secured the boomerangs that
came on board, and found that they were about

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF

twenty-four inches in length, shaped like the blade
of a sickle, and measured three or four inches across
at the widest part.
They were made
of extremely hard
wood, and were

ATTACKED BY SAVAGES

undoubtedly capable of doing considerable injury when
dexterously and accurately thrown. The blacks kept
up a terrific hubbub on shore, yelling like madmen,

40 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

and hurling at me showers of barbed spears. The
fact that they had boomerangs convinced me that I
must be nearing the Australian mainland. All this
time the current was carrying the Veielland rapidly
along, and I had soon left the natives jabbering
furiously far behind me.

At last I could see the open sea once more, and at
the mouth of the strait was a little low, wooded island,
where I thought I might venture to land. As I was
approaching it, however, yet another crowd of blacks,
all armed, came rushing down to the beach ; they
jumped into their catamarans, or " floats," and paddled
out towards me.

After my previous experience 1 deemed it advisable
not to let them get too near, so I hoisted the mainsail
again and stood for the open sea. There was a good
supply of guns and ammunition on board, and it would
have been an easy matter for me to have sunk one or
two of the native catamarans, which are mere primitive
rafts or floats, and so cooled their enthusiasm a bit;
but I refrained, on reflecting that I should not gain
anything by this action.

By this time I had abandoned all hope of ever
coming up with my friends, but, of course, I did not
despair of reaching land — although I hardly knew in
what direction I ought to shape my course. Still, I
thought that if I kept due west, I should eventually
sight Timor or some other island of the Dutch Indies,
and so, for the next three or four days, I sailed steadily
on without further incident.

About a week after meeting with the hostile blacks,
half a gale sprang up, and I busied myself in putting
the ship into trim to weather the storm, which I knew

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 41

was inevitable. I happened to 'be looking over the
stern watching the clouds gathering in dark, black
masses, when a strange upheaval of the waters took
place almost at my feet, and a huge black fish, like an
exaggerated porpoise, leaped into the air close to the
stern of my little vessel.

It was a monstrous, ungainly looking creature, nearly
the size of a small whale. The strange way it dis-
ported itself alongside the ship filled me with all
manner of doubtings, and I was heartily thankful when
it suddenly disappeared from sight. The weather then
became more boisterous, and as the day advanced I
strove my utmost to keep the ship's head well before
the wind ; it was very exhausting work. I was unable
to keep anything like an adequate look-out ahead,
and had to trust to Providence to pull me through
safely.

All this time I did not want for food. Certainly I
could not cook anything, but there was any quantity
of tinned provisions. And I fed Bruno, too. I con-
versed with him almost hourly, and derived much
encouragement and sympathy therefrom. One morning
sometime between the fifteenth and twentieth day, I
was scanning the horizon with my customary eager-
ness, when suddenly, on looking ahead, I found the
sea white with the foam of crashing breakers ; I knew
I must be in the vicinity of a sunken reef. I tried
to get the ship round, but it was too late. I couldn't
make the slightest impression upon her, and she forged
stolidly forward to her doom.

A few minutes later her keel came into violent
contact with a coral reef, and as she grated slowly
over it, the poor thing seemed to shiver from stem to

42 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

stern. The shock Was so severe that I was thrown
heavily to the deck. Bruno could make nothing what-
ever of it, so he found relief in doleful howls. While
the vessel remained stuck on the rocks, I was looking
out anxiously from the rigging, when, without a
moment's warning, a gigantic wave came toppling and
crashing overboard from the stern, overwhelming me
in the general destruction that followed. I was dashed
with tremendous force on to the deck, and when 1
picked myself up, bruised and bleeding, the first thing
I was conscious of was a deathly stillness, which filled
me with vague amazement, considering that but a few
moments before my ears had been filled with the roar
and crash of the breakers. And I could see that the
storm was still raging with great fury, although not a
sound reached my ears.

Gradually the horrible truth dawned upon me — /
was stone deaf ! The blow on the head from the great
wave had completely deprived me of all sense of
hearing. How depressed I felt when I realised this
awful fact no one can imagine. Nevertheless, things
were not altogether hopeless, for next morning I felt
a sudden crack in my left ear, and immediately after-
wards I heard once more the dull roar of the surf,
the whistling of the wind, and the barking of my
affectionate dog. My right ear, however, was perma-
nently injured, and to this day I am decidedly deaf
in that organ. I was just beginning to think that we
had passed over the most serious part of the danger,
when to my utter despair I again heard that hideous
grating sound, and knew she had struck upon another
reef She stuck there for a time, but was again forced
on, and presently floated in deep water. The pitiless

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 43

reefs were now plainly visible on all sides, and some
distance away I could see what appeared to be nothing
more than a little sandbank rising a few feet above
the waters of the lagoon.

While I was watching and waiting for developments
the deck of the vessel suddenly started, and she began
rapidly to settle down by the stern. Fortunately,
however, at that point the water was not excessively
deep. When I saw that nothing could save the ship,
and that her deck was all but flush with the water,
I loosened several of the fittings, as well as some
spars, casks, and chests, in the hope that they might
drift to land and perhaps be of service to me after-
wards. I remained on board as long as I possibl}'
could, trying to build a raft with which to get some
things ashore, but I hadn't time to finish it.

Up and up came the inexorable water, and at last,
signalling to Bruno to follow me, I leaped into the sea
and commenced to swim towards the sandbank. Of
course, all the boats had been lost when the pearling
fleet disappeared. The sea was still very rough, and
as the tide was against us, I found it extremely
exhausting work. The dog seemed to understand
that I was finding it a dreadful strain, for he swam
immediately in front of me, and kept turning round
again and again as though to see if I were following
safel3^

By dint of tremendous struggling I managed to get
close up to the shore, but found it utterly impossible
to climb up and land. Every time I essayed to plant
my legs on the beach, the irresistible backwash swept
me down, rolling me head over heels, and in my
exhausted condition this filled me with despair. On

44 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

one occasion this backwash sent me spinning into
deep water again, and I am sure I should have been
drowned had not my brave dog come to my rescue
and seized me by my hair — which, I should have
explained, I had always worn long from the days of
my childhood. Well, my dog tugged and tugged at

now BRUNO HKLPED MK

me until he had got me half-way through the breakers,
nor did this exertion seem to cause him much trouble
in swimming.

I then exerted myself sufficiently to allow of his
letting go my hair, whilst I took the end of his tail
between my teeth, and let him help me ashore in this
peculiar way. He was a remarkably strong and saga-

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 45

cious brute — an Australian dog — and he seemed to
enjoy the task. At length I found myself on my legs
upon the beach, though hardly able to move from
exhaustion of mind and body. When at length I had
recovered sufficiently to walk about, I made a hasty
survey of the little island or sandbank upon which I
found myself. Thank God, I did not realise at that
moment that I was doomed to spend a soul-killing two
and a half years on that desolate, microscopical strip
of sand ! Had I done so I must have gone raving
mad. It was an appalling, dreary-looking spot, without
one single tree or bush growing upon it to relieve the
terrible monotony. I tell you, words can never describe
the horror of the agonising months as they crawled by.
" My island " was nothing but a little sand-spit, with
here and there a few tufts of grass struggling through
its parched surface. As a matter of fact the sand was
only four or five inches deep in most places, and under-
neath was solid coral rock.

Think of it, ye who have envied the fate of the cast-
away on a gorgeous and fertile tropical island perhaps
miles in extent ! It was barely a hwidred yards in
length, ten yards wide, and only eight feet above sea-
level at high water ! There was no sign of animal life
upon it, but birds were plentiful enough — particularly
pelicans. My tour of the island occupied perhaps ten
minutes ; and you may perhaps form some conception
of my utter dismay on failing to come across any trace
of fresh water.

With what eager eyes did I look towards the ship
then 1 So long as she did not break up I was safe
because there were water and provisions in plenty on
board. And how I thanked my God for the adamant

46 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

bulwarks of coral that protected my ark from the fury
of the treacherous seas ! As the weather became
calmer, and a brilliant moon had risen, I decided to
swim back to the ship, and bring some food and
clothing ashore from her.

I reached the wreck without much trouble, and
clambered on board, but could do very little in the way
of saving goods, as the decks were still below water.
However, I dived, or rather ducked, for the depth of
water was only four or five feet, into the cabin and
secured some blankets, but I could not lay my hands
on any food.

After infinite trouble I managed to make some sort
of a raft out of pieces of wood I found lying loose and
floating about, and upon this platform I placed the
blankets, an oak chest, and one or two other articles
I proposed taking ashore. In the oak chest were a
number of flags, some clothing and medicine together
with my case of pearls and the four medical books.
But after I had launched it, I found that the tide was
still running out, and it was impossible for me to get
anything ashore that night. The weather was beauti-
fully fine, however, and as the forepart of the ship was
well out of water, I decided to remain on board and
get an hour or two's sleep, which I needed badly. The
night passed without incident, and I was astir a little
before dawn.

As the tide was now favourable, I loosed my raft
and swam it ashore. When I gained the island, I
made another survey of it, to find the most suitable
spot for pitching my camp, and in the course of my
wanderings I made a discovery that filled me with
horror and the anguish of blackest despair. My

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 47

curiosity was first attracted by a human skull that
lay near a large circular depression in the sand about
two feet deep. I commenced scratching with my
fingers at one side, and had only gone a few inches
down, when I came upon a quantity of human
remains.

The sight struck terror to my heart, and filled me
with the most dismal forebodings. " My own bones,"
I thought, " will soon be added to the pile." So great
was my agony of mind that I had to leave the spot,
and interest myself in other things; but some time
afterwards, when I had got over my nervousness, I
renewed my digging operations, and in an hour or so
had unearthed no fewer than sixteen complete skeletons
— fourteen adults, and two younger people, possibly
women ! They lay alongside one another, covered by
sand that had been blown over them by the wind.

CHAPTER III

On the wreck — Efforts to kindle a fire — My flagstaff — Clothing impos-
sible— Growing corn in turtles' blood— My house of pearl shells —
How the pelicans fished for me — Stung by a "sting-rae" — My
amusements — A peculiar clock — Threatened madness — I begin to
build a boat — An appalling blunder — Riding on turtles — Preach-
ing to Bruno— Canine sympathy — A sail — How I got fresh water
— Sending messages by the pelicans — A wonderful almanac — A
mysterious voice of hope — Human beings at last.

THAT morning I made my breakfast off raw sea-
gulls' eggs, but was unable to get anything to
drink. Between nine and ten o'clock, as the tide was
then very low, I was delighted to find that it was
possible to reach the wreck by walking along the rocks.
So, scrambling aboard, I collected as many things as I
could possibly transfer ashore. I had to take dangerous
headers into the cabin, as the whole ship's interior
was now full of water, but all I could manage to secure
were a tomahawk and my bow and arrows, which had
been given me by the Papuans. I had always taken a
keen interest in archery, by the way, and had made
quite a name for myself in this direction long before I
left Switzerland. I also took out a cooking-kettle.
All these seemingly unimportant finds were of vital
importance in the most literal sense of the phrase,
particularly the tomahawk and the bow, which were in

after years my very salvation time after time.

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES 49

I was very delighted when I secured my bow and
arrows, for I knew that with them I could always be
certain of killing sea-fowl for food. There was a stock
of gunpowder on board and a number of rifles and
shot-guns, but as the former was hopelessly spoiled, I
did not trouble about either. With my tomahawk I
cut away some of the ship's woodwork, which I threw
overboard and let drift to land to serve as fuel. When
I did eventually return to my little island, I unravelled
a piece of rope, and then tried to produce fire by
rubbing two pieces of wood smartly together amidst
the inflammable material. It was a hopeless business,
however; a full half-hour's friction only made the
sticks hot, and rub as hard as I would I could not
produce the faintest suspicion of a spark. I sat down
helplessly, and wondered how the savages I had read
of ever got fire in this way.

Up to this time I had not built myself a shelter of
any kind. At night I simply slept in the open air
on the sand, with only my blankets round me. One
morning I was able to get out of the vessel some
kegs of precious water, a small barrel of flour, and a
quantity of tinned foods. All these, together with
some sails, spars, and ropes, I got safely ashore, and in
the afternoon I rigged myself up a sort of canvas awn-
ing as a sleeping-place, using only some sails and spars.

Among the things I brought from the ship on a
subsequent visit were a stiletto that had originally been
given to me by my mother. It was an old family relic
with a black ebony handle and a finely tempered steel
blade four or five inches in length. I also got a stone
tomahawk — a mere curio, obtained from the Papuans ;
and a quantity of a special kind of wood, also taken on

50 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

board at New Guinea. This wood possessed the
peculiar property of smouldering for hours when once
ignited, without actually bursting into flame. We took
it on board because it made such good fuel.

As the most urgent matter was to kindle a fire, I
began experiments with my two weapons, striking the
steel tomahawk against the stone one over a heap of
fluffy material made by unravelling and teasing out a
piece of blanket. Success attended my patient efforts
this time, and to my inexpressible relief and joy I soon
had a cheerful fire blazing alongside my improvised
shelter — and, what is more, I took good care never to let
it go out during the wJiole time I remained a prisoner
on the island. The fire was always my first thought,
and night and day it was kept at least smouldering
by means of the New Guinea wood I have already
mentioned, and of which I found a large stock on
board. The ship itself, I should mention, provided me
with all the fuel that was required in the ordinary
way, and, moreover, I was constantly finding pieces of
wreckage along the shore that had been gathered in
by the restless waves. Often — oh ! often — I reflected
with a shudder what my fate would have been had the
ship gone down in deep water, leaving me safe, but
deprived of all the stores she contained. The long,
lingering agony, the starvation, the madness of thirst,
and finally a horrible death on that far-away strip of
sand, and another skeleton added to that grisly pile !

The days passed slowly by. In what part of the
world I was located I had not the remotest idea. I
felt that I was altogether out of the beaten track of
ships because of the reefs that studded these seas, and
therefore the prospect of my being rescued was very

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 51

remote indeed — a thought that often caused me a kind
of dull agony, more terrible than any mere physical
pain.

However, I fixed up a flagstaff on the highest point
of the island — (poor "island," — that was not many
inches) — and floated an ensign upside down from it,
in the hope that this signal of distress might be
sighted by some stray vessel, and indicate the presence
of a castaway to those on board. Every morning 1
made my way to the flagstaff, and scanned the horizon
for a possible sail, but I always had to come away
disappointed. This became a habit ; yet, so eternal
is hope, that day by day, week by week, and month
by month the bitter disappointment was always a
keen torture. By the way, the very reefs that made
those seas so dangerous served completely to protect
my little island in stormy weather. The fury of the
billows lost itself upon them, so that even the surf very
rarely reached me. I was usually astir about sunrise.
I knew that the sun rose about 6 A.M. in those tropical
seas and set at 6 P.M. ; there was very little variation
all the year round. A heavy dew descended at night,
which made the air delightfully cool ; but in the day it
was so frightfully hot that I could not bear the weight
of ordinary clothes upon my person, so I took to
wearing a silk shawl instead, hung loosely round my
waist.

Another reason why I abandoned clothes was because
I found that when a rent appeared the sun blazed down
through it and raised a painful blister. On the other
hand, by merely wearing a waist-cloth, and taking
constant sea baths, I suffered scarcely at all from the
scorching tropical sun. I now devoted all my energies

52 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

to the wreck of the Veielland, lest anything should
happen to it, and worked with feverish energy to get
everything I possibly could out of the ship. It took me
some months to accomplish this, but eventually I had
removed everything — even the greater part of the cargo
of pearl shells. The work was rendered particularly
arduous in consequence of the decks being so fre-
quently under water ; and I found it was only at the
full and new moons that I could actually walk round
on the rocks to the wreck. In course of time the
ship began to break up, and I materially assisted the
operation with an axe. I wanted her timbers to build
a boat in which to escape.

The casks of flour I floated ashore were very little
the worse for their immersion ; in fact, the water had
only soaked through to the depth of a couple of inches,
forming a kind of protecting wet crust, and leaving
the inner part perfectly dry and good. Much of this
flour, however, was afterwards spoiled by weevils ; nor
did my spreading out the precious grain in the sun-
light on tarpaulins and sails save it from at least partial
destruction. I also brought ashore bags of beans,
rice, and maize; cases of preserved milk and vege-
tables, and innumerable other articles of food, besides
some small casks of oil and rum. In fact, I stripped
the ship's interior of everything, and at the end of
nine months very little remained of her on the rocks
but the bare skeleton of the hull. I moved all the
things out day by day according to the tides.

In a large chest that came ashore from the captain's
cabin I found a stock of all kinds of seeds, and I
resolved to see whether I could grow a little corn.
Jensen himself had put the seeds aboard in order to

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 53

plant them on some of the islands near which we might
be compelled to anchor for some length of time.
•^ Another object was to grow plants on board for the
amusement of the Malays. The seeds included
vegetables, flowers, and Indian corn, the last named
being in the cob. The Malays are very fond of
flowers, and the captain told them that they might
try and cultivate some in boxes on board ; but when
he saw that this would mean an additional drain
upon his supply of fresh water he withdrew the per-
mission. I knew that salt water would not nourish
plants, and I was equally certain I could not spare
fresh water from my own stock for this purpose.

Nevertheless, I set my wits to work, and at length
decided upon an interesting experiment. I filled a
large turtle shell with sand and a little clay, and
thoroughly wetted the mixture with turtle's blood,
then stirring the mass into a puddle and planting
corn in it.

The grain quickly sprouted, and flourished so rapidly,
that within a very short time I was able to transplant
it — always, however, nourishing it with the blood of
turtles. This most satisfactory result induced me to
extend my operation, and I soon had quaint little
crops of maize and wheat growing in huge turtle
shells ; the wheat -plants, however, did not reach
maturity.

For a long time I was content with the simple
awning I have described as a place of shelter, but
when I began to recover the pearl shells from the
ship, it occurred to me that I might use them as
material with which to build some kind of a hut.
Altog-ether there were about thirty tons of pearl shells

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

on board, and at first I took to diving for them merely
as a sort of pastime.

I spent many weeks getting enough shells ashore
to build a couple of parallel walls, each about seven
feet high, three feet thick, and ten feet in length.
The breeze blew gratefully through them. I filled

'^j^aM?

BUILDING MY HOUSE

the interstices of these walls with a puddle of clayey
sand and water, covered in the top with canvas, and
made quite a comfortable living-place out of it. The
walls at any rate had a high commercial value ! When
the wet season set in I built a third wall at one end,
and erected a sort of double awning in front, under
which I always kept my fire burning. I also put a

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 55

straw thatch over the hut, proudly using my own straw
which I had grown with blood.

In course of time I made myself crude articles of
furniture, including a table, some chairs, a bed, &c. My
bedding at first consisted of sails, but afterwards I was
able to have a mattress filled with straw from my corn
patch. The kettle I had saved from the wreck, was for
a long time my only cooking utensil, so when I had any-
thing to prepare I generally made an oven in the sand,
after the manner of the natives I had met on the New
Guinea main. I could always catch plenty of fish —
principally mullet ; and as for sea-fowls, all that I had
to do was walk over to that part of the island where
they were feeding and breeding, and knock them over
with a stick. I made dough-cakes from the flour
whilst it lasted ; and I had deputies to fish for me —
I mean the hundreds of pelicans. The birds who had
little ones to feed went out in the morning, and re-
turned in the afternoon, with from three to ten pounds
of delicious fresh fish in their curious pouches.

On alighting on the island they emptied their
pouches on the sand — too often, I must confess, solely
for my benefit. Selfish bachelor birds on returning
with full pouches jerked their catch into the air, and
so swallowed it. It used to amuse me, however, to
watch a robber gull, perched on their back, cleverly
and neatly intercepting the fish as it ascended. These
fish, with broiled turtle meat and tinned fruits, made
quite a sumptuous repast.

After breakfast I would have a swim when the tide
was low and there was no likelihood of sharks being
about. A run along the beach in the sun until I was
dry followed, and then I returned to my awning and

$6 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

read aloud to myself in English, from my medical
books and my English-French Testament, simply for
the pleasure of hearing my own voice. I was a very
good linguist in those days, and spoke English particu-
larly well long before I left Switzerland. After break-
fast, my dog and I would go out to catch a peculiar
sort of fish called the '* sting-rae." These curious
creatures have a sharp bony spike about two inches
in length near the tail, and this I found admirably
adapted for arrow-heads. The body of the fish re-
sembled a huge flounder, but the tail was long and
tapering. They would come close in-shore, and I
would spear them from the rocks with a Papuan fish-
ing-spear. The smallest I ever caught weighed fifteen
pounds, and I could never carry home more than a couple
of average weight. They have the power of stinging,
I believe, electrically, hence their name. At all events,
I was once stung by one of these fish, and it was
an experience I shall never forget. It fortunately
happened at a time when some friendly blacks were at
hand, otherwise I question very much whether I
should be alive to-day.

I was wading slowly along the beach in rather deep
water, when I suddenly felt a most excruciating pain
in my left ankle. It seemed as though I had just
received a paralysing shock from a powerful battery,
and down I fell in a state of absolute collapse, un-
able to stir a finger to save myself, although I knew
I was rapidly drowning. Fortunately the blacks who
were with me came and pulled me ashore, where I
slowly recovered. There was only a slight scratch
on my ankle, but for a long time my whole body was
racked with pain, and when the natives got to know

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 57

of the symptoms they told me that I had been attacked
by a " sting-rae." The spike or sting measures from
two to six inches in length according to the size of the
fish.

But to return to my soHtary life on the island.
The f esh of the sting-rae was not pleasant to eat,
being rather tough and tasteless, so I used it as a
bait for sharks. Turtles visited the island in great
numbers, and deposited their eggs in holes made in
the sand above high-water mark. They only came
on land during the night, at high tide ; and whenever
I wanted a special delicacy, I turned one over on its
back till morning, when I despatched it leisurely with
my tomahawk. The creatures' shells I always devoted
to the extension of my garden, which became very
large, and eventually covered fully two-thirds of the
island. The maize and cob-corn flourished remark-
ably well, and I generally managed to get three
crops in the course of a year. The straw came in
useful for bedding purposes, but as I found the
sand-flies and other insects becoming more and more
troublesome whilst I lay on the ground, I decided to
try a hammock. I made one out of shark's hide,
and slung it in my hut, when I found that it answered
my purpose splendidly.

The great thing was to ward off the dull agony, the
killing depression, and manias generally. Fortunately
I was of a very active disposition, and as a pastime I
took to gymnastics, even as I had at Montreux. I
became a most proficient tumbler and acrobat, and
could turn two or three somersaults on dashing down
from the sloping roof of my pearl-shell hut ; besides,
I became a splendid high jumper, with and without

58 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

the pole. Another thing I interested myself in was
the construction of a sun-dial.

Indeed, I spent many hours devising some means
whereby I could fashion a reliable " clock," and at last
1 worked out the principle of the sun-dial on the sand.
I fixed a long stick perfectly upright in the ground,
and then marked off certain spaces round it by means
of pegs and pearl shells. I calculated the hours
according to the length of the shadows cast by the
sun.

But, in spite of all that I could do to interest or
amuse myself, I was frequently overwhelmed with fits
of depression and despair, and more than once I feared
I should lose my mental balance and become a maniac.
A religious craze took possession of me, and, strive as
I might, I could not keep my mind from dwelling upon
certain apparent discrepancies in the various apostles'
versions of the Gospel !

I found myself constantly brooding over statements
made in one form by St. Matthew, and in another by
St. Luke; and I conjured up endless theological
arguments and theories, until I was driven nearly
frantic. Much as I regretted it, I was compelled at
last to give up reading my New Testament, and by
the exercise of a strong will I forced myself to think
about something totally different.

It took me a long time to overcome this religious
melancholia, but I mastered it in the long run, and
was greatly delighted when I found I could once more
read without being hypercritical and doubtful of every-
thing. Had I been cast on a luxuriant island, growing
fruits and flowers, and inhabited at least by animals
— how different would it have been ! But here there

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 59

was nothing to save the mind from madness — merely a
tiny strip of sand, invisible a few hundred yards out
at sea.

When the fits of depression came upon me I in-
variably concluded that life was unbearable, and would
actually rush into the sea, with the deliberate object of
putting an end to myself At these times my agony of
mind was far more dreadful that any degree of physical
suffering could have been, and death seemed to have a
fascination for me that I could not resist. Yet when
I found myself up to my neck in water, a sudden
revulsion of feeling would come over me, and instead
of drowning myself I would indulge in a swim or a
ride on a turtle's back by way of diverting my thoughts
into different channels.

Bruno always seemed to understand when I had an
attack of melancholia, and he would watch my every
movement. When he saw me rushing into the water,
he would follow at my side barking and yelling like
a mad thing, until he actually made me forget the
dreadful object I had in view. And we would perhaps
conclude by having a swimming race. These fits of
depression always came upon me towards evening, and
generally about the same hour.

In spite of the apparent hopelessness of my position,
I never relinquished the idea of escaping from the
island some day, and accordingly I started building a
boat within a month of my shipwreck.

Not that I knew anything whatever about boat-
building ; but I was convinced that I could at least
make a craft of some sort that w'ould float. I set to
work with a light heart, but later on paid dearly for my
ignorance in bitter, bitter disappointment and impotent

6o DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

regrets. For one thing, I made the keel too heavy;
then, again, I used planks that were absurdly thick for
the shell, though, of course, I was not aware of these
things at the time. The wreck, of course, provided
me with all the woodwork I required. In order to
make the staves pliable, I soaked them in water for a
week, and then heated them over a fire, afterwards
bending them to the required shape. At the end of
nine months of unremitting labour, to which, latterly,
considerable anxiety — glorious hopes and sickening
fears — was added, I had built what I considered a
substantial and sea-worthy sailing boat, fully fifteen
feet long by four feet wide. It was a heavy ungainly
looking object when finished, and it required much
ingenuity on my part to launch it. This I eventually
managed, however, by means of rollers and levers;
but the boat was frightfully low in the water at the
stern. It was quite watertight though, having an
outer covering of sharks' green hide, well smeared with
Stockholm tar, and an inside lining of stout canvas.
I also rigged up a mast, and made a sail. When my
boat floated I fairly screamed aloud with wild delight,
and sympathetic Bruno jumped and yelped in unison.

But when all my preparations were complete, and I
had rowed out a little way, I made a discovery that
nearly drove me crazy. I found I had launched the
boat in a sort of lagoon several miles in extent, barred
by a crescent of coral rocks, over which / could not
possibly drag my craft into the open sea. Although
the water covered the reefs at high tide it was never
of sufficient depth to allow me to sail the boat over
them. I tried every possible opening, but was always
arrested at some point or other. After the first acute

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF

paroxysm of despair — beating my head with my
clenched fists — I consoled myself with the thought that
when the high tides came, they would perhaps lift the
boat over that terrible barrier. I waited, and waited,
and waited, but alas! only to be disap-
pointed. My nine weary months of arduous

WILD DELIGHT

travail and half-frantic anticipation were cruelly wasted.
At no time could I get the boat out into the open sea
in consequence of the rocks, and it was equally impos-
sible for me unaided to drag her back up the steep
slope again and across the island, where she could be
launched opposite an opening in the encircling reefs.

62 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

So there my darling boat lay idly in the lagoon — a
useless thing, whose sight filled me with heartache
and despair. And yet, in this very lagoon I soon
found amusement and pleasure. When I had in some
measure got over the disappointment about the boat,
I took to sailing her about in the lagoon. I also
played the part of Neptune in the very extraordinary
way I have already indicated. I used to wade out
to where the turtles were, and on catching a big six-
hundred-pounder, I would calmly sit astride on his
back.

Away would swim the startled creature, mostly a
foot or so below the surface. When he dived deeper
I simply sat far back on the shell, and then he was
forced to come up. I steered my queer steeds in a
curious way. When I wanted my turtle to turn to
the left, I simply thrust my foot into his right eye, and
vice versa for the contrary direction. My two big toes
placed simultaneously over both his optics caused a halt
so abrupt as almost to unseat me. Sometimes I would
go fully a mile out to sea on one of these strange steeds.
It always frightened them to have me astride, and in
their terror they swam at a tremendous pace until com-
pelled to desist through sheer exhaustion.

Before the wet season commenced I put a straw
thatch on the roof of my hut, as before stated, and
made my quarters as snug as possible. And it was
a very necessary precaution, too, for sometimes it
rained for days at a stretch. The rain never kept me
indoors, however, and I took exercise just the same, as
I didn't bother about clothes, and rather enjoyed the
shower bath. I was always devising means of making
life more tolerable, and amongst other things I made

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF

a sort of swing, which I found extremely useful in
beguiling time. I would also practise jumping with
long poles. One day I captured a 3'oung pelican, and
trained him to accompany me in my walks and assist
me in my fishing operations. He also acted as a
decoy. Frequently I would hide myself in some grass,
whilst my pet bird walked a few yards away to attract

RIDING ON A TURTLE

his fellows. Presently he would be joined by a whole
flock, many of which I lassoed, or shot with my bow
and arrows.

But for my dog — my almost human Bruno — I think
I must have died. I used to talk to him precisely as
though he were a human being. We were absolutely
inseparable. I preached long sermons to him from

64 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

Gospel texts. I told him in a loud voice all about my
early life and school-days at Montreux; I recounted
to him all my adventures, from the fatal meeting with
poor Peter Jensen in Singapore, right up to the present ;
I sang little chansons to him, and among these he
had his favourites as well as those he disliked cordially.
If he did not care for a song, he would set up a pitiful
howl. I feel convinced that this constant communing
aloud with my dog saved my reason. Bruno seemed
always to be in such good spirits that I never dreamed
of anything happening to him ; and his quiet, sym-
pathetic companionship was one of the greatest bless-
ings I knew throughout many weird and terrible years.
As I talked to him he would sit at my feet, looking
so intelligently at me that I fancied he understood
every word of what I was saying.

When the religious mania was upon me, I talked
over all sorts of theological subjects with my Bruno,
and it seemed to relieve me, even though I never re-
ceived any enlightenment from him upon the knotty
point that would be puzzling me at that particular
time. What delighted him most of all was for me to
tell him that I loved him very dearly, and that he
was even more valuable to me than the famous dogs
of St. Bernard were to benighted travellers in the
snow.

I knew very little about musical instruments, but as
I had often longed for something to make a noise with,
if only to drown the maddening crash of the eternal surf,
I fashioned a drum out of a small barrel, with sharks'
skin stretched tightly over the open ends. This I beat
with a couple of sticks as an accompaniment to my
singing, and as Bruno occasionally joined in with a

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 65

howl of disapproval or a yell of joy, the effect must
have been picturesque if not musical. I was ready to
do almost anything to drown that ceaseless cr-ash,
cr-ash of the breakers on the beach, from whose
melancholy and monotonous roar I could never escape
for a single moment throughout the whole of the long
day. However, I escaped its sound when I lay down
to sleep at night by a very simple plan. As I was
stone-deaf in the right ear I always slept on the left
side.

Seven weary months had passed away, when one
morning, on scanning the horizon, I suddenly leaped
into the air and screamed : " My God ! A sail ! A sail ! "
I nearly became delirious with excitement, but, alas !
the ship was too far out to sea to notice my frantic
signals. My island lay very low, and all that I could
make out of the vessel in the distance was her sails.
She must have been fully five miles away, yet, in my
excitement, I ran up and down the miserable beach,
shouting in a frenzy and waving my arms in the hope
of attracting the attention of some one on board ; but
it was all in vain. The ship, which I concluded was
a pearler, kept steadily on her way, and eventually
disappeared below the horizon.

Never can I hope to describe the gnawing pain at
my heart as, hoarse and half mad, I sank exhausted
on the sand, watching the last vestige of the ship
disappearing. Altogether, I saw five ships pass in
this way during my sojourn on the island, but they
were always too far out at sea to notice my signals.
One of these vessels I knew to be a man-o'-war flying
the British ensign. I tried to rig up a longer flag-
staff, as I thought the original one not high enough

66 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

for its purpose. Accordingly I spliced a couple of
long poles together, but to my disappointment found
them too heavy to raise in the air. Bruno always
joined in my enthusiasm when a sail was in sight ;
in fact, he was generally the first to detect it, and
he would bark and drag at me until he had drawn
my attention to the new hope. And I loved him
for his tender sympathy in my paroxysms of regret
and disappointment. The hairy head would rub
coaxingly against my arm, the warm tongue licking
my hand, and the faithful brown eyes gazing at
me with a knowledge and sympathy that were
more than human — these I feel sure saved me
again and again. I might mention that, although
my boat was absolutely useless for the purpose of
escape, I did not neglect her altogether, but sailed
her about the enclosed lagoon by way of practice in
the handling of her sails. This was also a welcome
recreation.

I never feared a lack of fresh water, for wlien, in
the dry season, the ship's stock and my reserve from
the wet season were exhausted, I busied myself with
the condensing of sea water in my kettle, adding to
my store literally drop by drop. Water was the only
liquid I drank, all the tea and coffee carried on board
having been rendered utterly useless.

The powerful winged birds that abounded on the
island one day gave me an idea : Why not hang a
message around their necks and send them forth into
the unknown ? Possibly they might bring help— who
knows ? And with me to conceive was to act. I
got a number of empty condensed-milk tins, and, by
means of fire, separated from the cylinder the tin disc

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 67

that formed the bottom. On this disc I scratched a
message with a sharp nail. In a few words I conve3'ed
information about the wreck and my deplorable con-
dition. I also gave the approximate bearings — latitude
fifteen to thirteen degrees, not far from the Australian
main.

These discs — I prepared several in English, French,
bad Dutch, German, and Italian — I then fastened round
the necks of the pelicans, by means of fish-gut, and
away across the ocean sped the affrighted birds, so
scared by the mysterious encumbrance that they never
returned to the island.

I may say here that more than twenty years later,
when I returned to civilisation, I chanced to mention
the story about my messenger-birds to some old
inhabitants at Fremantle, Western Australia, when,
to my amazement, they told me that a pelican carry-
ing a tin disc round its neck, bearing a message in
French from a castaway, Jiad been found many
years previously by an old boatman on the beach
near the mouth of the Swan River. But it was not
mine.

So appalling was the monotony, and so limited my
resources, that I welcomed with childish glee any
trifling little incident that happened. For example,
one lovely night in June I was amazed to hear a
tremendous commotion outside, and on getting up to
see what was the matter, I beheld dimly countless
thousands of birds — Java sparrows I believe them to
be. I went back to bed again, and in the morning
was a little dismayed to find that my pretty visitors
had eaten up nearly all my green corn. And the birds
were still there when I went forth in the morning.

68 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

They made the air ring with their Hvely chatter, but
the uproar they made was as music to me. The
majority of them had greyish -yellow bodies, with
yellow beaks and pink ruffs, and they were not at
all afraid of me. I moved about freely among them,
and did not attempt to drive them out of my corn
patch, being only too grateful to see so much life
about me. They rose, however, in great clouds the
next day, much to my regret, and as they soared
heavenwards I could not help envying them their
blessed freedom.

I kept count of the long days by means of pearl
shells, for I had not used up the whole cargo in
the walls of my hut. I put shells side by side in
a row, one for each day, until the number reached
seven, and then I transferred one shell to another
place, representing the weeks. Another pile of shells
represented the months ; and as for the years, I
kept count of those by making notches on my
bow. My peculiar calendar was always checked by
the moon.

Now, I am not a superstitious man, so I relate
the following extraordinary occurrence merely as it
happened, and without advancing any theory of my
own to account for it. I had been many, many months
— perhaps more than a year — on that terrible little
sand-spit, and on the night I am describing I went to
bed as usual, feeling very despondent. As I lay asleep
in my hammock, I dreamed a beautiful dream. Some
spiritual being seemed to come and bend over me,
smiling pityingly. So extraordinarily vivid was the
apparition, that I suddenly woke, tumbled out of my
hammock, and went outside on a vague search. In a

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 69

few minutes, however, I laughed at my own folly and
turned in again.

I lay there for some little time longer, thinking about
the past — for I dared not dwell on the future — when
suddenly the intense stillness of the night was broken
by a strangely familiar voice, which said, distinctly
and encouragingly, ^^ Je siiis avec toi. Soit sans peiir.
Tu reviendras!' I can never hope to describe my feel-
ings at that moment.

It was not the voice of my father nor of my mother,
yet it was certainly the voice of some one I knew and
loved, yet was unable to identify. The night was
strangely calm, and so startling was this mysterious
message that instinctively I leaped out of my hammock
again, went outside and called out several times, but,
of course, nothing happened. From that night, how-
ever, I never absolutely despaired, even when things
looked their very worst.

Two interminable years had passed away, when
one day the weather suddenly changed, and a terrible
gale commenced to blow, which threatened almost to
wreck my little hut. One morning, a few days later,
when the storm had abated somewhat, I heard Bruno
barking wildly on the beach. A few seconds after-
wards he came rushing into the hut, and would not
rest until I prepared to follow him outside. Before
doing so, however, I picked up an oar — I knew not
why. I then followed my dog down to the beach,
wondering what could possibly have caused him to
make such a fuss. The sea was somewhat agitated,
and as it was not yet very light, I could not clearly
distinguish things in the distance.

On peering seawards for the third or fourth time.

70 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

however, I fancied I could make out a long, black
object, which I concluded must be some kind of a
boat, tossing up and down on the billows. Then I
must confess I began to share Bruno's excitement, —
particularly when a few minutes later I discerned a
well-made catamaran, with several human figures
lying prostrate upon it !

CHAPTER IV

I try to revive my visitors — Demonstrations of amazement — A variety
entertainment — Evil spirits in the mirror — " The star above my
home" — "Preliminary canter" with the boat — A joyful procession
— " Good-bye to my island home " — Nearing the main — Among
the cannibals — Smoke telegraphy— A weird audience — A nation
meets me — My first palace.

MY state of mind was perfectly indescribable. Here,
I thought, are some poor shipwrecked creatures
Hke myself; and I prayed to God that I might be the
means of saving them. The prospect of having at
length some one to converse with filled me with un-
utterable joy, and I could hardly restrain myself from
rushing into the water and swimming out to the cata-
maran, which was still several hundred yards away from
me. Would it never draw near ? I thought, wild with
impatience. And then, to my horror, I saw that it was
closely followed by a number of sharks, which swam
round and round it expectantly. Seeing this, I could
contain myself no longer. Sternly commanding my
dog not to follow me, I waded into the waves and then
swam boldly out to the catamaran, taking good care,
however, to make a great noise as I swam, by shouting
and splashing in order to frighten away the sharks.
When eventually I did come up to the floating platform
of logs, I found that there were four blacks upon it — a
man, a woman, and two boys. All were lying quite

72 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

prostrate through exhaustion, apparently more dead
than alive. The sharks still hung on persistently, but
at length I drove them away by beating the water with
my oar, with which I then proceeded to paddle the
catamaran ashore. You see, the oar I grasped when
Bruno came to give the alarm proved of inestim-
able value; and so all through my marvellous years of
sojourn among the cannibals an undeniable Providence
guided my every action. But this will be seen from my
narrative in a hundred amazing instances. I climbed
aboard the catamaran and paddled it into shallow water ;
and then, jumping overboard again I pulled it right
up on to the beach, and carried the four blacks one by
one into my hut. They were in a most pitiable state
of collapse. Their tongues were swollen and protrud-
ing out of their mouths, and for a long time I could
get nothing down their throats. First of all I tried to
revive them with cold water, but found they could not
swallow.

Then I remembered the rum I had saved from the
wreck all this time, and procuring some I rubbed their
bodies with it, tied wet bandages round their necks,
and rolled them about in wet sails, in the hope that
in this way their bodies might absorb the necessary
liquid. You see I had an idea that they were dying
from want of water. All four were terribly emaciated,
and in the last stages of exhaustion. After two or three
hours' treatment, the two boys recovered consciousness,
and some little time later the man also showed signs of
reviving, but the woman did not come to until the
afternoon. None of them, of course, were able to
walk ; and in the meantime they did nothing but drink
water. They seemed not to realise what had happened

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 73

or where they were until the following day, and then
their surprise — mainly at the sight of me — was beyond
all description. Their first symptom was one of ex-
treme terror, and in spite of every kind action I could
think of, they held out for a long time against my
advances — although I signed to them that I was their
friend, patting them on the shoulders to inspire confi-
dence, and trying to make them understand that I had
saved them from a terrible death. I fancy they all
thought they had died and were now in the presence
of the mysterious Great Spirit ! At any rate, it was
not until they began to eat freely that they grew in
some measure accustomed to me. Then an ungovern-
able curiosity manifested itself. From gazing at me
unceasingly, they took to feeling me and patting my
skin. They made queer, guttural sounds with their
mouths, evidently expressive of amazement ; they
slapped their thighs, and cracked their fingers.

Next, my belongings came in for inspection, and
everything excited wonderment and delight to such a
degree, that I blessed Providence for sending me so
much entertaining society. My hut, with its curious
thatched roof, excited vast interest ; and it was
amusing to see the two boys, aged respectively about
twelve and fourteen, following their parents about,
jabbering incessantly, and giving me sly, half-terrified
glances as they examined my implements and utensils.
The woman was the first to get over her fear of me,
and she soon grew to trust me implicitly ; whereas
her husband never ceased to view me with inexplicable
suspicion until we regained his own country. He was
a big, repulsive-looking savage, with a morose and
sullen temper; and although he never showed signs

74 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

of open antagonism, yet I never trusted him for a
moment during the six long months he was my
" guest " on the little sand-bank ! It seems I un-
wittingly offended him, and infringed the courtesy
common among his people by declining to take advan-
tage of a certain embarrassing offer which he made
me soon after his recovery.

It may not be anticipating too much to say here that
the woman was destined to play a vitally important
part in the whole of my life, and with her I went
through adventures and saw sights more weird and
wonderful than anything I had ever read of, even in
the wildest extravagances of sensational fiction. But
the ruling passion was very strong, and one of the
first things I did was to take my black friends down
to the beach and show them my precious boat floating
idly in the lagoon. Oddly enough, I had in the mean-
time always taken the greatest care of the boat, keeping
her bottom clean and generally furbishing her up —
having, however, no particular object in view in doing
this, except perhaps that it gave me something to do.
The poor little " home-made " boat threw the blacks
into a perfect frenzy of astonishment, and they con-
cluded that I must have come from a very distant part
of the world in so enormous a "catamaran," As a
matter of fact, from that moment they looked upon me
as most certainly a kind of Supreme Spirit from another
world ; they may have had doubts before. Next I
showed them the wreck, which was now only a bare
skeleton of rotting woodwork, but still plainly dis-
cernible among the coral rocks. I tried to explain to
them that it was in the larger boat that I had come,
but they failed to understand me.

AS TOLD BY HIMSflLF

On returning to the hut I put on my clothes for
their benefit, whereupon their amazement was so great
that I seriously contemplated discontinuing my list of

MY SECONDARY SKIX

wonders, lest they should become absolutely afraid to
remain with me. The clothes they considered part of
myself — in fact, a kind of secondary skin ! They were

•jG DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

terribly frightened and distressed, and not one of the
four dared approach me.

The blacks did not build themselves any place of
shelter, but merely slept in the open air at night,
under the lee of my hut, with a large fire always burn-
ing at their feet. I offered them both blankets and
sails by way of covering, but they refused them, pre-
ferring to lie huddled close together for warmth. In
the morning the woman would prepare breakfast for
them, consisting of fish (mainly mullet), birds' and
turtles' eggs, and sea-fowl ; to which would perhaps be
added some little luxury from my own stock. They
only had two meals a day — one in the morning and
the other in the afternoon. Their favourite food was
turtle, of which they could eat enormous quantities,
especially the fat. Bruno was a long time before he
took kindly to the new arrivals, probably because they
manifested such extraordinary emotion whenever he
lifted up his voice and barked.

I think the only thing that roused the father of the
family from his sullen moods was my extraordinary
acrobatic performances, which also threw the two little
nigger boys into hysterics of delight. Father, mother,
and children tried to imitate my somersaults, "wheels,"
and contortions, but came to grief so desperately (once
the morose man nearly broke his neck) that they soon
gave it up. The man would sit and watch our gambols
for hours without moving a muscle. I was never
actually afraid of him, but took good care not to let
him get possession of any of my weapons ; and as I
had also taken the precaution to break up and throw
into the sea the spears he had brought with him on
his catamaran, I felt pretty sure he could not do much

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF j-j

mischief even if he were so disposed. After seeing
me bring down birds with my bow and arrow he began
to hold me in absolute fear, probably because he had
some idea that his own skin might be jeopardised if he
did not accommodate himself to circumstances. I re-
peatedly told him that with my boat I might perhaps
some day help him to get back to his own country, and
1 must say that this suggestion roused him somewhat
from his lethargy, and he appeared profoundly grateful.
Gradually I acquired a slight acquaintance with the
extraordinary language of the blacks, and had many
a chat with the woman, who also picked up a few
words of comical English from me. She was a woman
of average height,- lithe and supple, with an intelligent
face and sparkling eyes. She was a very interesting
companion, and as I grew more proficient in her queer
language of signs, and slaps, and clicks, I learnt from
her many wonderful things about the habits and
customs of the Australian aborigines, which proved
extremely useful to me in after years. Yamba — for
that was her name — told me that when I rescued them
they had been blown miles and miles out of their
course and away from their own country by the terrible
gale that had been raging about a fortnight previously.
It seems that they had originally started out on an
expedition to catch turtles on a little island between
Cambridge Gulf and Queen's Channel, but the storm
carried them out to sea. They drifted about for many
days, until at length they reached my little island.
The only food they had during the whole of this time
was turtle, but they were entirely without water. One
would think that they must inevitably have died of
thirst, but the blacks are wonderful people for going

78 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

without water for prolonged periods. Moreover, they
find a mouthful of salt water occasionally quite sus-
taining.

One of my most amusing experiences with the blacks
was one day when, quite accidentally, Yamba caught
sight of herself for the first time in the little oval
looking-glass I had hanging up in the hut near my
hammock. She thoughtlessly took it down and held
it close up to her face. She trembled, felt the surface
of the glass, and then looked hurriedly on the back.
One long, last, lingering look she gave, and then flew
screaming out of the hut.

Oddly enough, she overcame her fears later, and,
woman-like, would come and look in the mirror for an
hour at a stretch, smacking her lips all the while in
wonderment, and making most comical grimaces and
contortions to try various effects. Her husband, how-
ever (Gunda, as I called him), was very differently
affected, for the moment his wife showed him his own
reflection in the glass he gave a terrific yell and bolted
to the other end of the little island, in a state of tlie
most abject terror. He never quite overcame his terror
and distrust of the mirror, which he evidently con-
sidered possessed of life, and in reality a kind of spirit
to be feared and avoided.

But, of course, the two boys found the glass a
never-ending source of amazement and wonder, and
were not in the least afraid of it after the first natural
shock of surprise. Altogether, I thanked God for
sending me my new companions ; and, as you may
suppose, they afforded me as much entertainment and
gratification as I and my belongings did them.

Every evening, before retiring to rest, the family

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 79

squatted round the fire and indulged in a mournful
kind of chant — singing, as I afterwards learnt, the
wonders they had seen on the white man's island ; my
mirror coming in for special mention. This was the
only approach to a " religious service " I ever saw, and
was partly intended to propitiate or frighten away the
spirits of the departed, of whom the Australian blacks
have a great horror.

The blacks had been with me two or three weeks,
when one evening the man approached and intimated
in unmistakable terms that he wanted to get away
from the island and return to his own land. He said
he thought he and his family could easily return to
their friends on the mainland by means of the cata-
maran that had brought them.

And Yamba, that devoted and mysterious creature,
solemnly pointed out to me a glowing star far away on
the horizon. There, she said, lay the home of her people.
After this I was convinced that the mainland could not
be more than a couple of hundred miles or so away,
and I determined to accompany them on the journey
thither, in the hope that this might form one of the
stepping-stones to civilisation and my own kind. We
lost no time. One glorious morning we three — Yamba,
her husband, and myself — repaired to the fatal lagoon
that hemmed in my precious boat, and without more
ado dragged it up the steep bank by means of
rollers run on planks across the sand-spit, and then
finally, witli a tremendous splash and an excited
hurrah from myself, it glided out into the water, a
thing of meaning, of escape, and of freedom. The
boat, notwithstanding its long period of uselessness,
was perfectly water-tight and thoroughly seaworthy.

8o DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

although still unpleasantly low at the stern. Gunda
was impatient to be off, but I pointed out to him that,
as the wind persistently blew in the wrong direction day
after day, we should be compelled perforce to delay our
departure perhaps for some months. You see, Gunda
was not a man who required to make much preparation:
he thought all we should have to do was to tumble into
the boat and set sail across the sunlit sea. " I can
paddle my catamaran against both wind and tide ; why
cannot you do the same ? " he would say. He did not
understand the advantage or uses of sails. He had
lost his own paddles in the storm, otherwise he would
in all probability have left the island on his own
account. He was like a fish out of water when the
novelty of his situation wore off. On the other hand,
I thought of water, provisions, and other equally
vital necessaries. So Gunda had to rest content for
a time, and he grew, if possible, more morose and
sullen than ever.

During this period of impatient waiting, we made
many experimental voyages out to sea, and generally
got the boat into capital trim for the great and eventful
journey. I saw to it that she was thoroughly well
provisioned with tinned stuffs — long put on one side
for the purpose ; and I may say here that at the last
moment before starting I placed on board three large live
turtles, which supplied us with meat until we reached
the Australian main. I also took a plentiful supply
of water, in bags made from the intestines of birds
and fishes ; also a small cask containing about ten
gallons of the precious fluid, which was placed near the
mast. In short, as far I was able, I provided everything
that was necessary for this most important journey.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 8i

But consider for a moment the horrible doubts and
fears that racked me, I fancied the mainland was not
very far away, but you must remember I was not
at all certain how long it would take us to reach it ;
nor could I be sure, therefore, whether I had taken a
sufficient supply of food and water. Our provisions,
which included tinned meats, corn in the cob and loose,
turtles' flesh and intestines, flour, rice, beans, &c.,
would, however, on a fairly liberal allowance, last a
little over three weeks. We also carried some blankets,
nails, tar, and other requisites. Of my books I only
took my Bible with me. This I wrapped up in parch-
ment made from pelican skin, together with four photo-
graphs of a certain young lady which I carried about
with me throughout the whole of my wanderings. The
propulsive power was, of course, the big lug-sail, which
was always held loosely in the hand, and never made
fast, for fear of a sudden capsize.

Six months had passed away since the advent of
my visitors, when one morning we all marched out
from the hut and down to the beach ; the two boys
fairly yelling with joy, and waving bunches of green
corn plucked from my garden. Their mother skipped
gaily hither and thither, and I myself was hardly able
to control my transports of excitement and exhilara-
tion. Even Gunda beamed upon the preparations for
our release. I did not demolish my hut of pearl
shells, but left it standing exactly as it had been during
the past two and a half years. Nor must I omit to
mention that I buried my treasure of pearls deep in the
sand at one end of the island, and in all human proba-
bility it is there at this moment, for I have never
returned for them, as I fondly hoped to be able to do

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

so at some future date. It is, of course, possible that
the precious box has been washed away in a storm,
but more probably the contrary is the case, and still
deeper layers of sand have been silted over this great
treasure. I dared not carry anything oversea that
was not vitally necessary, and what good were pearls
to me on my fearful journey, convoying four other
people out into the unknown in a crazy, home-made

GREAT EXCITEMENT

boat ? Even masses of virgin gold were of very little
use to me in the years that followed ; but of this more
anon. My condition, by the way, at this time was
one of robust health ; indeed, I was getting quite
stout owing to the quantity of turtle I had been
eating, whilst Yamba's husband was positively corpu-
lent from the same reason.

That glorious morning in the last week of May

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 83

1866 will ever be graven in my memory. As I
cast off from that saving but cruel shore, I thanked
my Maker for having preserved me so long and
brought me through such awful perils, as well as
for the good health I had always enjoyed. As the
boat began to ripple through the inclosed waters of
the lagoon, the spirits of the four blacks rose so
high that I was afraid they would capsize the little
craft in their excitement.

There was a strong, warm breeze blowing in our
favour, and soon my island home was receding swiftly
from our view. The last thing to remain in sight was
the shell hut, but this, too, disappeared before we had
covered three miles. It would have been visible from
a big ship at a much greater distance, but no one
would ever imagine what it really was. Yamba sat
near me in the stern, but her husband curled himself
up at the opposite end of the boat ; and from the time
we reached the open sea practically until we gained
the main, he did not relax his attitude of reserve and
dogged silence. He ate and drank enormously, how-
ever. You would have thought we were in a land
flowing with milk and honey, instead of an open boat
with limited provisions and an unknown journey in
front of us. He did exert himself sufficiently on one
occasion, however, to dive overboard and capture a
turtle. He was sitting moodily in the prow of the
boat as usual one afternoon, when suddenly he jumped
up, and with a yell took a header overboard, almost
capsizing our heavily laden boat. At first I thought
he must have gone mad, but on heaving to, I saw him
some little distance away in the water struggling with
a turtle. He managed to get it on its back after a

84 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

time, and though I felt annoyed at his recklessness, I
could not help laughing at his antics and the comical
efforts made by the turtle to escape. The turtle was
duly hauled aboard, and we then continued our voyage
without delay, I was dreadfully afraid of being caught
in a storm. Our boat must inevitably have foundered
had the seas been at all rough.

Fortunately never once did the wind change, so
that we were able to sail on steadily and safely night
and day, without deviating in the least from our
course. We travelled fully four knots an hour, the
wind and current being nearly always in our favour.
It was, however, a painfully monotonous and trying
experience to sit thus in the boat, cramped up as we
were, day after day and night after night. About the
fifth day we sighted a small island — probably Barker
Island, in the vicinity of Admiralty Gulf — and landed
upon it at once solely for the purpose of stretching
our aching limbs. This little island was uninhabited,
and covered to the very water's edge with dense
tropical vegetation. It was a perfectly exhilarating
experience to walk about on real earth once more.
We cooked some turtle meat and stayed a few hours
on the island, after which we entered the boat and
put off on our journey again. Just before leaving I
stored a quantity of corn, cobs, seeds, &c., in a little
cairn in case we might be compelled to return. I
always steered, keeping east by north, but Yamba
relieved me for a few hours each evening — generally
between six and nine o'clock, when I enjoyed a brief
but sound sleep. Gunda never offered to take a spell,
and I did not think it worth while to trouble him.

Thus night and day we sailed steadily on, occasion-

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 85

ally sighting sharks and even whales. We passed a
great number of islands, some of them wooded and
covered with beautiful jungle growths, whilst others
were nothing but rock and sand. None of them
seemed to be inhabited. The sea was smooth all
the time, but occasionally the currents carried us out
of our course among the islands, and then we had
to land and wait till the tide turned. No matter
how the wind was, if the tide was not also in
our favour we had to land. We cruised in and out
among the islands for ten days or more, when we
rounded Cape Londonderry and then steered S. by E.
The current, however, carried us straight for Cam-
bridge Gulf, One little island I sighted between
Cambridge Gulf and Queen's Channel had a curious
house-like structure built in one of the trees on the
coast. The trunk of this tree was very large and
tapering, and the platform arrangement was built
amongst the branches at the top, after the manner
adopted by the natives of New Guinea.

You may imagine my feelings when, early one
morning, Yamba suddenly gripped my arm and mur-
mured, "We are nearing my home at last." I leaped
to my feet, and a few minutes afterwards the mainland
came hazily into view. Instead of heading straight
for it, however, we made for a beautiful island that
stood in the mouth of a large bay, and here we landed
to recuperate for a day or so. Immediately on our
arrival, Yamba' and her husband lit some fires, and
made what were apparently smoke-signals to their
friends on the main. They first cut down a quantity
of green wood with my tomahawk and arranged it in
the form of a pyramid. Next they obtained fire by

86 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

rubbing together two pieces of a certain kind of wood ;
and as the smoke ascended we saw answering smoke-
signals from the opposite shore. The smoke was
allowed to ascend in puffs which were regulated by
the manipulation of boughs. Not long after this
curious exchange of signals (and the practice is virtu-
ally universal throughout the whole of aboriginal
Australia), we saw three catamarans, or floats, each
carrying a man, shooting across towards our island.
These catamarans merely consisted of a broad plank
with a stick placed transversely at the prow, on which
the black placed his feet. He squatted down on the
plank and then paddled forward. I viewed their
approach with mixed sensations of alarm and hope. I
was in the power of these people, I thought. They
could tear me limb from limb, torture me, kill and eat
me, if they so pleased ; I was absolutely helpless.
These fears, however, were but momentary, and back
upon my mind rushed the calm assurances I had
obtained from my clear-eyed mentor, Yamba, to say
nothing about the mysterious message of hope and
consolation that had startled the solemn stillness of that
tropical night. I knew these people to be cannibals,
for, during the long talks we used to have on the
island, Yamba had described to me their horrid feasts
after a successful war. Nevertheless, I awaited the
arrival of the little flotilla with all the complacency I
could muster, but at the same time I was careful to
let Yamba's husband be the first to receive them.

And he advanced to meet them. The new-comers,
having landed, squatted down some little distance
away from the man they had come to meet, and then
Gunda and they gradually edged forwards towards

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 87

one another, until at length each placed his nose
upon the other's shoulder. This was apparently the
native method of embracing. Later Gunda brought his
friends to be introduced to me, and to the best of my
ability I went through the same ridiculous ceremony.
I must say my new friends evinced an almost uncon-
trollable terror at the sight of me. Gunda, however,
made it clear that I was not a returned spirit, but
a man like themselves — a great man certainly, and
a mysterious man, but a man all the same. Although
by this time my skin had become tanned and dark,
there was seemingly no end to the amazement it
caused the blacks. They timidly touched and felt my
body, legs, and arms, and were vastly anxious to
know what the covering was I had round my body.
In due time, however, the excitement subsided some-
what, and then the new-comers prepared more smoke-
signals to their friends on the mainland — this time
building five separate fires in the form of a circle.

It was interesting to watch this remarkable method
of communication. Each fire was set smoking fiercely
a few seconds after its neighbour had started. Finally,
the columns of smoke united, and ascended together
in the form of a huge pyramid, going up a tremendous
height into the still, hot air. The meaning of these
signals was explained to me. They indicated to the
people on the mainland that the advance guard had
found Gunda and his family; that they had a great
man with them ; and that, furthermore, they might
expect us to return all together almost immediatel}-.
By this time, thanks to Yamba's able and intelligent
lessons, I was able to speak the queer language of the
blacks with some show of fluency, and I could under-

88 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

stand them well enough when they did not jabber
too quickly.

The next phase of our arrival was that " smokes "
were ascending in all directions on the mainland, evi-
dently calling the tribes from far and near. How these
smoke-signals gave an idea of the white man and his
wonders I am utterly at a loss to imagine. In the
meantime Yamba had prepared a great feast for the
visitors, the principal dish being our remaining big
turtle, of which the blacks ate a prodigious quantity.
I afterwards told them that I was in need of a pro-
longed rest, my long journey having wearied me, and
after this explanation I retired, and slung my hammock
in a shady nook, where I slept undisturbed from shortly
before noon until late in the day, when my ever-faith-
ful Yamba, who had been keeping a careful watch,
woke me and said that the festivities prior to our de-
parture were about to take place.

Much refreshed, I rejoined the blacks, and, to their un-
bounded delight and amazement, entertained them for
a few minutes with some of my acrobatic tricks and con-
tortions. Some of the more emulous among them tried
to imitate my feats of agility, but always came dismally
to grief — a performance that created even more frantic
merriment than my own. After a little while the blacks
disappeared, only to come forth a few minutes later
with their bodies gorgeously decorated with stripes of
yellow ochre and red and white pigments. These
startling preparations preceded a great corroboree in
honour of my arrival, and in this embarrassing func-
tion I was, of course, expected to join. The ceremony
was kept up with extraordinary vigour the whole night
long, but all I was required to do was to sit beating

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 89

sticks together, and join in the general uproar. This
was all very well for a little while, but the monotony
of the affair was terrible, and I withdrew to my ham-
mock before midnight.

In the morning I saw a great fleet of catamarans
putting off from the mainland, and in a very short time
between fifty and sixty natives joined our party on the
island. Then followed the usual greetings and comical
expressions of amazement — of course, at the sight of
me, my boat, and everything in it. A few hours
later the whole crowd left the island, led by me in
the big boat — which, by the way, attracted as much
interest as I did myself The natives forced their
catamarans through the water at great speed, using
only one paddle, which was dipped first on one side
and then on the other in rapid succession, without,
however, causing the apparently frail craft to swerve
in the slightest degree.

As we approached the new country, I beheld a vast
surging crowd of excited blacks — men, women, and
children, all perfectly naked — standing on the beach.
The moment we landed there was a most extraordinary
rush for my boat, and everything on board her was
there and then subjected to the closest scrutiny.

The people seemed to be divided into clans, and
when one clan was busy inspecting my implements
and utensils, another was patiently waiting its turn to
examine the white man's wonders. I sat in the boat
for some time, fairly bewildered and deafened by the
uproarious jabberings and shrill, excited cries of amaze-
ment and wonder that filled the air all round me. At
last, however, the blacks who had come out to meet
us on the island came to my rescue, and escorted me

go DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

through the crowd, with visible pride, to an eminence
overlooking the native camping-ground. I then learnt
that the news of my coming had been smoke-signalled
in every direction for many miles ; hence the enormous
gathering of clans on the beach.

The camping-ground I now found myself upon con-
sisted of about thirty primitive shelters, built of

APPROACHING THE NEW COUNTRY

boughs in the most flimsy manner, and only intended
to break the force of the wind. These shelters, or
"break-winds," were crescent-shaped, had no roof,
and were not in any way closed in in front. There
were, however, two or three grass huts of beehive
shape, about seven feet high and ten feet in diameter,
with a queer little hole at the base through which the

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 91

occupier had to crawl. The inside was perfectly
dark.

I was told I could have either a break-wind of
boughs or a beehive hut, and on consideration I chose
the latter. It would, I reflected, ensure something
approaching privacy. My indefatigable Yamba and a
few of her women friends set to work then and there,
and positively in less than an hour the grass hut was
ready for occupation ! I did not, however, stay to
witness the completion of the building operations, but
went off with some self-appointed cicerones to see the
different camps ; everywhere I was received with the
greatest enthusiasm and manifestations of respect and
friendship. My simple loin-cloth of crimson Japanese
silk occasioned much astonishment among the blacks,
but curiously enough the men were far more astonished
at vay footprints than any other attribute I possessed.
It seems that when they themselves walk they turn
their feet sideways, so that they only make a half
impression, so to speak, instead of a full footprint.
On the other hand, I of course planted my feet squarely
down, and this imprint in the sand was followed by a
crowd of blacks, who gravely peered at every footprint,
slapping themselves and clicking in amazement at the
wonderful thing !

CHAPTER V

Some queer dishes — Water wizards — A mysterious deputation — I pro-
test against cannibalism — My marriage ceremony — A startling pro-
position— Daily routine — A diet of worms — I proceed cautiously
— -The cannibal poet sells his wares — Fishing extraordinary — How
emus were caught — Eternal fires — A coming horror — The first
cannibal feast.

1SAW very little of Gunda from the moment of land-
ing. I feel sure that the fact of his having seen so
much of the world, and travelled such a long distance
— to say nothing about bringing back so wonderful
a creature as myself — had rendered him a very great
man indeed in the estimation of his friends ; and in
consequence of this so much honour was paid him
that he became puffed up with pride, and neglected
his faithful wife.

Everywhere I went the natives were absolutely over-
whelming in their hospitality, and presents of food of
all kinds were fairly showered upon me, including such
delicacies as kangaroo and opossum meat, rats, snakes,
tree-worms, fish, &c., which were always left outside
my hut. Baked snake, I ought to mention, was a very
pleasant dish indeed, but as there was no salt forth-
coming, and the flesh was very tasteless, I cannot say
I enjoyed this particular native dainty. The snakes
were invariably baked whole in their skins, and the
meat was very tender and juicy, though a little insipid

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES 93

as to flavour. The native method of cooking is to scoop
out a hole in the sand with the hands, and then place
the article to be cooked at the bottom. Some loose
stones would then be thrown over the "joint." Next
would come a layer of sand, and the fire was built on the
top of all. Rats were always plentiful — often so much
so as to become a serious nuisance. They were of the
large brown variety, and were not at all bad eating.
I may say here that the women-folk were responsible
for the catching of the rats, the method usually adopted
being to poke in their holes with sticks, and then kill
them as they rushed out. The women, by the way,
were responsible for a good many things. They were
their masters' dressers, so to speak, in that they were
required to carry supplies of the greasy clay or earth
with which the blacks anoint their bodies to ward off the
sun's rays and insect bites ; and beside this, woe betide
the wives if corroborce time found them without an
ample supply of coloured pigments for the decoration
of their masters' bodies. One of the prir^cipal duties
of the women-folk, however, was the provision of roots
for the family's dinner. The most important among
these necessaries — besides fine yams — were the root
and bud of a kind of water-lily, which when roasted
tasted not unlike a sweet potato.

There was usually a good water supply in the
neighbourhood of these camps, and if it failed (as it
very frequently did), the whole tribe simply moved its
quarters elsewhere — perhaps a hundred miles off.

The instinct of these people for finding water, how-
ever, was nothing short of miraculous. No one would
think of going down to the seashore to look for fresh
water, yet they often showed me the purest and most

94 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

•refreshing of liquids oozing up out of the sand on the
beach after the tide had receded.

All this time, and for many months afterwards, my
boat and everything it contained were saved from
molestation and theft by a curious device on the part
of Yamba. She simply placed a couple of crossed
sticks on the sand near the bows, this being evidently
a kind of Masonic sign to all beholders that they were
to respect the property of the stranger among them ;
and I verily believe that the boat and its contents might
have remained there until they fell to pieces before any
one of those cannibal blacks would have dreamed of
touching anything that belonged to me.

After a time the natives began pointedly to suggest
that I should stay with them. They had probably
heard from Yamba about the strange things I possessed,
and the occult powers 1 was supposed to be gifted
with. A day or two after my landing, a curious thing
happened — nothing more or less than the celebration
of my marriage ! I was standing near my boat, still
full of thoughts of escape, when two magnificent naked
chiefs, decked with gaudy pigments and feather head-
dresses, advanced towards me, leading between them
a young, dusky maiden of comparatively pleasing
appearance.

The three were followed by an immense crowd of
natives, and were within a few feet of me, when they
halted suddenly. One of the chiefs then stepped out
and offered me a murderous-looking club, with a big
knob at one end, which ugly weapon was known as
a "waddy." As he presented this club the chief
made signs that I was to knock the maiden on the
head with it. Now, on this I confess I was struck

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 95

with horror and dismay at my position, for, instantly
recalHng what Yamba had told me, I concluded that a
cannibal feast was about to be given in my honour^ and
that — worst horror of all — I might have to lead off
with the first mouthful of that smiling girl. Of course,
I reflected they had brought the helpless victim to me,
the distinguished stranger, to kill with my own hands.
At that critical moment, however, I resolved to be
absolutely firm, even if it cost me my life.

While I hesitated, the chief remained absolutely
motionless, holding out the murderous-looking club,
and looking at me interrogatively, as though unable to
understand why I did not avail myself of his offer.
Still more extraordinary, the crowd behind observed a
solemn and disconcerting silence. I looked at the girl ;
to my amazement she appeared delighted with things
generally — a poor, merry little creature, not more than
fifteen or sixteen 3^ears of age. I decided to harangue
the chiefs, and as a preliminary I gave them the universal
sign to sit down and parley. They did so, but did
not seem pleased at what they doubtless considered
an unlooked-for hitch in an interesting ceremony.

Then in hesitating signs, slaps, clicks, and guttural
utterances, I gave them to understand that it was
against my faith to have anything whatever to do
with the horrid orgy they contemplated. The Great
Spirit they dreaded so much yet so vaguely, I went
on to say, had revealed to me that it was wrong to kill
any one in cold blood, and still more loathsome and
horrible to eat the flesh of a murdered fellow-creature.
I was very much in earnest, and I waited with nervous
trepidation to see the effect of my peroration. Under
the circumstances, you may judge of my astonishment

g6 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

when not only the chiefs, but the whole "nation" as-
sembled, suddenly burst into roars of eerie laughter.

Then came Yamba to the rescue. Ah ! noble and
devoted creature ! The bare mention of her name
stirs every fibre of my being with love and wonder.
Greater love than hers no creature ever knew, and not
once but a thousand times did she save my wretched
life at the risk of her own.

Well, Yamba, I say, came up and whispered to me.
She had been studying my face quietly and eagerly,
and had gradually come to see what was passing in
my mind. She whispered that the chiefs, far from
desiring me to kill the girl for a cannibal feast, were
offering her to me as a wife, and that I was merely
expected to tap her on the head with the stick, in
token of her subjection to her new spouse ! In short,
this blow on the head was the legal marriage ceremony
tout simple. I maintained my dignity as far as possible,
and proceeded to carry out my part of the curious
ceremony.

I tapped the bright-eyed girl on the head, and she
immediately fell prostrate at my feet, in token of her
wifely submission. I then raised her up gently, and
all the people came dancing round us, uttering weird
cries of satisfaction and delight. Oddly enough,
Yamba, far from manifesting any jealousy, seemed to
take as much interest as any one in the proceedings,
and after everything was over she led my new wife
away to the little "humpy," or hut, that had been
built for me by the women. That night an indescrib-
ably weird corroboree was held in my honour, and I
thought it advisable, since so much was being made
of me, to remain there all night and acknowledge the

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 97

impromptu songs that were composed and sung in my
honour by the native bards. I am afraid I felt utterly
lost without Yamba, who was, in the most literal sense,
my right hand.

By this time she could speak a little English, and
was so marvellously intelligent that she seemed to
discover things by sheer intuition or instinct. I think
she never let a day go by without favourably impress-
ing the chiefs concerning me, my prowess and my
powers ; and without her help I simply could not have
lived through the long and weary years, nor should I
ever have returned to civilisation.

The very next day after my "marriage," having
been still further enlightened as to the manners and
customs of the natives, I waited upon Gunda, and
calmly made to him the proposition that we should
exchange wives. This suggestion he received with
a kind of subdued satisfaction, or holy joy, and very
few further negotiations were needed to make the
transaction complete; and, be it said, it was an
every-day transaction, perfectly legal and recognised
by all the clans. Yamba was full of vigour and re-
source, while the only phrase that fitly describes her
bush lore is absolutely miraculous. This will be
evinced in a hundred extraordinary instances in this
narrative.

But you may be asking, What of my dog, Bruno ?
Well, I am thankful to say, he was still with me, but
it took him a long time to accustom himself to his new
surroundings; he particularly objected to associating
with the miserable pariah curs that prowled about
the encampment. They would take sly bites out of
him when he was not looking, but on the whole, he was

98 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

well able to hold his own, being much more powerful
than they.

I settled down to my new life in the course of a
few days, but I need hardly remark I did not propose
staying in that forlorn spot longer than I could help.
This was my plan. I would, first of all, make myself
acquainted with the habits and customs of the blacks,
and pick up as much bushmanship and knowledge of
the country as it was possible to acquire, in case 1
should have to travel inland in search of civilisation
instead of oversea. I knew that it would be folly on
my part to attempt to leave those hospitable regions
without knowing more of the geography of the country
and its people. There was always, however, the hope
that some day I might be able either to get away
by sea in my boat, or else hail some passing vessel.
The blacks told me they had seen many pass at a
distance.

Every morning I was astir by sunrise, and — hope
springing eternal — at once searched for the faintest
indication of a passing sail. Next I would bathe in
a lagoon protected from sharks, drying myself by a
run on the beach. Meanwhile Yamba would have
gone out searching for roots for breakfast, and she
seldom returned without a supply of my favourite
water-Hly buds already mentioned. Often, in the years
that followed, did that heroic creature tramp on foot
a hundred miles to get me a few sprigs of saline herbs.
She had heard me say I wanted salt, which commodity,
strange to say, was never used by the natives; and
even when I gave them some as an experiment they
did not seem to care about it. She would also bring
in, by way of seasoning, a kind of small onion, known

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 99

as the nelga, which, when roasted, made a very ac-
ceptable addition to our limited fare. The natives
themselves had but two meals a day — breakfast,
between eight and nine o'clock, and then an enormous
feast in the late afternoon. Their ordinary food con-
sisted of kangaroo, emu, snakes, rats, and fish ; an
especial dainty being a worm found in the black ava
tree, or in any decaying trunk.

These worms were generally grilled on hot stones,
and eaten several at a time like small whitebait. I
often ate them myself, and found them most palatable.
After breakfast the women of the tribe would go out
hunting roots and snaring small game for the after-
noon meal, while the men went off on their war and
hunting expeditions, or amused themselves with feats
of arms. The children were generally left to their
own devices in the camp, and the principal amusement
of the boys appeared to be the hurling of reed spears
at one another. The women brought home the roots
(which they dug up with yam sticks, generally about
four feet long) in nets made out of the stringy parts of
the grass tree ; stringy bark, or strong pliable reeds,
slung on their all-enduring backs. They generally
returned heavily laden between two and three in the
afternoon. I always knew the time pretty accurately
by the sun, but I lost count of the days. The months,
however, I always reckoned by the moon, and for each
year I made a notch on the inside of my bow.

My own food was usually wrapped in palm leaves
before being placed in the sand oven. Of course the
leaves always burned, but they kept the meat free
from sand ; and my indefatigable wife was always
exercising her ingenuity to provide me with fresh

lOO DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

dainties. In addition to the ordinary fare of the
natives, I frequently had wild ducks and turkeys, and
— what was perhaps the greatest luxury of all — eggs,
which the natives sent for specially on my account to
distant parts of the surrounding country, and also to
the islands of the coast where white cockatoos reared
their young in rocky cliffs.

At the time of my shipwreck I had little or no
knowledge of Australian geography, so that I was
utterly at a loss as to my position. I afterwards
learnt, however, that Yamba's home was on Cambridge
Gulf, on the NNW. coast of the Australian continent,
and that the central point of our camping ground at
this time was near the mouth of the Victoria River,
which flows into Queen's Channel.

Almost every evening the blacks would hold a stately
corroboree, singing and chanting; the burden of their
song being almost invariably myself, my belongings,
and my prowess — which latter, I fear, was magnified
in the most extravagant manner. Besides the corro-
boree they also would assemble for what might not
inaptly be termed evening prayers, which consisted of
a poetical recital of the events of the day. I ought to
mention that at first I did not accompany the men on
their excursions abroad, because I was far from perfect
in their language; and furthermore, I was not skilled
in hunting or in bush lore. Therefore, fearful of
exciting ridicule, I decided to remain behind in the
camp until I was thoroughly grounded in everything
there was to be learned. Supposing, for example, 1
had gone out with the blacks, and had to confess
myself tired after tramping several miles. Well, this
kind of thing would certainly have engendered con-

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF loi

tempt; and once the mysterious white stranger was
found to be full of the frailties of the ordinary man,
his prestige would be gone, and then life would pro-
bably become intolerable.

Thus everything I did I had to excel in, and it
was absolutely necessary that I should be perpetually
"astonishing the natives," in the most literal sense of
the phrase. Accordingly, for the next few weeks, I
used to accompany the women on their root-hunting
and rat-catching expeditions, and from them I picked
up much valuable information.

The corroboree was, perhaps, the greatest institution
known to the blacks, who, obliged to do no real work,
as we understand it, simply had to pass the time some-
how ; and there can be no doubt that, were it not for
the constant feuds and consequent incessant wars, the
race would greatly deteriorate. The corroboree after
a successful battle commenced with a cannibal feast
off the bodies of fallen foes, and it would be kept
up for several days on end, the braves lying down to
sleep near the fire towards morning, and renewing the
festivities about noon next day. The chiefs on these
occasions decked themselves with gorgeous cockatoo
feathers, and painted their bodies with red and yellow
ochre and other glaring pigments, each tribe having its
own distinguishing marks. A couple of hours were
generally spent in dressing and preparing for the
ceremony, and then the gaily-decorated fighting-men
would dance or squat round the fires and chant
monotonous songs, telling of all their own achieve-
ments and valour, and the extraordinary sights they
had seen in their travels.

The words of the songs were usually composed by

I02 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

the clan's own poet, who made a living solely by his
profession, and even sold his effusions to other tribes.
As there was no written language the purchaser would
simply be coached orally by the vendor poet ; and as
the blacks were gifted with most marvellous memories,
they would transmit and resell the songs throughout

THE FEAST

vast stretches of country. These men of the north-west
were of magnificent stature, and possessed great per-
sonal strength. They were able to walk extraordinary
distances, and their carriage was the most graceful I
have ever seen. Many of them were over six feet
high, well made in proportion and with high broad
foreheads — altogether a very different race from the

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 103

inhabitants of Central Australia. One of their favourite
tests of strength was to take a short stick of very hard
wood and bend it in their hands, using the thumbs
as levers, till it snapped. Strange to say, I failed to
bend the stick more than a quarter of an inch. The
women are not very prepossessing, and not nearly so
grateful in their bearing and gait as the men. Poor
creatures ! they did all the hard work of the camp —
building, food-hunting, waiting, and serving. Occa-
sionally, however, the men did condescend to go out
fishing, and they would also organise battues when
a big supply of food was wanted. These great
hunting-parties, by the way, were arranged on an
immense scale, and fire figured largely in them. The
usual routine was to set fire to the bush, and then
as the terrified animals and reptiles rushed out in
thousands into the open, each party of blacks speared
every living thing that came its way within a certain
sphere. The roar of the fast-spreading fire, the thou-
sands of kangaroos, opossums, rats, snakes, iguanas,
and birds that dashed hither and thither, to the accom-
paniment of bewildering shouts from the men and shrill
screeches from the women, who occasionally assisted,
flitting hither and thither like eerie witches amidst the
dense pall of black smoke — all these made up a picture
which is indelibly imprinted on my mind.

As a rule, hosts of hawks and eagles are to be
seen flying over the black man's camp, but on the
occasion of a bush fire they follow its train, well
knowing that they will obtain prey in abundance.
With regard to the fishing parties, these went out
either early in the morning, soon after sunrise, or in
the evening, when it was quite dark. On the latter

I04 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

occasions, the men carried big torches, which they held
high in the air with one hand, while they waded out
into the water with their spears poised, in readiness to
impale the first big fish they came across.

When the spearmen did strike, their aim was un-
erring, and the struggling fish would be hurled on to
the beach to the patient women-folk, who were there
waiting for them, with their big nets of grass slung
over their backs. Sometimes a hundred men would
be in the shallow water at once, all carrying blazing
torches, and the effect as the fishermen plunged and
splashed this way and that, with shouts of triumph
or disappointment, may be better imagined than de-
scribed. In the daytime a rather different method was
adopted. Some acres of the shallow lagoon would be
staked out at low water in the shape of an inverted V,
an opening being left for the fish to pass through.

The high tide brought the fish in vast shoals, and
then the opening would be closed. When the tide
receded, the staked enclosure became, in effect, a
gigantic net, filled with floundering fish, big and little.
The natives then waded into the inclosure, and
leisurely despatched the fish with their spears.

Nothing was more interesting than to watch one of
these children of the bush stalking a kangaroo. The
man made not the slightest noise in walking, and he
would stealthily follow the kangaroo's track for miles
(the tracks were absolutely invisible to the uninitiated).
Should at length the kangaroo sniff a tainted wind, or
be startled by an incautious movement, his pursuer
would suddenly become as rigid as a bronze figure,
and he could remain in this position for hours. Finally,
when within thirty or forty yards of the animal, he

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 105

launched his spear, and in all the years I was among
these people I never knew a man to miss his aim.
Two distinct kinds of spears were used by the natives,
one for hunting and the other for war purposes. The
former averaged from eight to ten feet, whilst the
latter varied from ten to fourteen feet in length ; the
blade in each case, however, consisting either of bone
or stone, with a shaft of some light hard wood.
Metals were, of course, perfectly unknown as workable
materials. The war-spear was not hurled javelin-
fashion like the hunting-spear, but propelled by means
of a wommerah, which, in reality, was a kind of sling,
perhaps twenty-four inches long, with a hook at one
end to fix on the shaft of the spear. In camp the
men mainly occupied their time in making spears and
mending their weapons. They hacked a tree down
and split it into long sections by means of wedges, in
order to get suitable wood for their spear-shafts.

To catch emus the hunters would construct little
shelters of grass at a spot overlooking the water-
hole frequented by these birds, and they were then
speared as they came down for water. The largest
emu I ever saw, by the way, was more than six feet
high, whilst the biggest kangaroo I came across was
even taller than this. Snakes were always killed with
sticks, whilst birds were brought down with the won-
derful boomerang.

As a rule, only sufficient food was obtained to last
from day to day ; but on the occasion of one of the big
battues I have described there would be food in abun-
dance for a week or more, when there would be a
horrid orgy of gorging and one long continuous corro-
boree, until supplies gave out.

io6 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

The sport which I myself took up was dugong
hunting ; for I ought to have mentioned that I brought
a harpoon with me in the boat, and this most useful
article attracted as much attention as anything I had.
The natives would occasionally put their hands on my
tomahawk or harpoon, and never ceased to wonder why
the metal was so cold.

Whenever I went out after dugong, accompanied by
Yamba (she was ever with me), the blacks invariably
came down in crowds to watch the operation from the
beach.

But, you will ask, what did I want with dugong,
when I had so much other food at hand ? Well, my
idea was to lay in a great store of dried provisions
against the time when I should be ready to start for
civilisation in my boat. I built a special shed of
boughs, in which I conducted my curing operations;
my own living-place being only a few yards away. It
was built quite in European fashion, with a sloping
roof. The interior was perhaps twenty feet square
and ten feet high, with a small porch in which my fire
was kept constantly burning. When we had captured
a dugong the blacks would come rushing into the
sea to meet us and drag our craft ashore, delighted
at the prospect of a great feast. The only part of the
dugong I preserved was the belly, which I cut up into
strips and dried.

The blacks never allowed their fires to go out,
and whenever they moved their camping-ground, the
women-folk always took with them their smouldering
fire-sticks, with which they can kindle a blaze in a
few minutes. Very rarely, indeed, did the women
allow their fire-sticks to go out altogether, for this

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 107

would entail a cruel and severe punishment. A fire-
stick would keep alight in a smouldering state for
days. All that the women did when they wanted to
make it glow was to whirl it round in the air. The
wives bore ill-usage with the most extraordinary equa-
nimity, and never attempted to parry even the most
savage blow. They would remain meek and motionless
under a shower of brutal blows from a thick stick, and
would then walk quietly away and treat their bleeding
wounds with a kind of earth. No matter how cruelly
the women might be treated by their husbands, they
hated sympathy, so their women friends always left
them alone. It often surprised me how quickly the
blacks' most terrible wounds healed ; and yet they
were only treated with a kind of clay and leaves of
the wild rose.

I am here reminded of the native doctor. This
functionary was called a rui, and he effected most of
his cures with a little shell, with which he rubbed
assiduously upon the affected part. Thus it will be
seen that the medical treatment was a form of massage,
the rubbing being done first in a downward direction
and then crosswise. I must say, however, that the
blacks were very rarely troubled with illness, their
most frequent disorder being usually the result of
excessive gorging when a particularly ample supply
of food was forthcoming — say, after a big battue over
a tribal preserve.

In an ordinary case of overfeeding, tlie medicine
man would rub his patient's stomach with such vigour
as often to draw blood. He would also give the
sufferer a kind of grass to eat, and this herb, besides
clearing the system, also acted as a most marvellous

io8 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

appetiser. The capacity of some of my blacks was
almost beyond belief One giant I have in my mind
ate a whole kangaroo by himself. I saw him do it.
Certainly it was not an excessively big animal, but,
still, it was a meal large enough for three or four
stalwart men.

In a case of fever the natives resorted to charms to
drive away the evil spirit that was supposed to be
troubling the patient. The universal superstition
about all maladies is that they are caused by the " evil
eye," directed against the sufferer by some enemy.
Should one member of a tribe be stricken down with
a disease, his friends at once come to the conclusion
that he has been " pointed at " by a member of another
tribe who owed him a grudge ; he has, in short, been
bewitched, and an expedition is promptly organised to
seek out and punish the individual in question and all
his tribe. From this it is obvious that war is of pretty
frequent occurrence. And not only so, but every
death is likewise the signal for a tribal war. There is
no verdict of " Death from natural causes." Punitive
expeditions are not organised in the event of slight
fevers or even serious illness — only when the patient
dies. A tribe I once came across some miles inland
were visited by a plague of what I now feel sure must
have been smallpox. The disease, they said, had
been brought down from the coast, and although
numbers of the blacks died, war was not declared
against any particular tribe. As a rule, the body of
the dead brave is placed upon a platform erected in
the forks of trees, and his weapons neatly arranged
below. Then, as decay set in, and the body began to
crumble away, the friends and chiefs would come and

THE ENGAGEMENT BECAME GENERAL

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF iii

observe certain mystic signs, which were supposed to
give information as to what tribe or individual had
caused the death of the deceased.

It must have been within a month of my landing on
Yamba's country, in Cambridge Gulf, that I witnessed
my first cannibal feast. One of the fighting-men had
died in our camp, and after the usual observations had
been taken, it was decided that he had been pointed
at, and his death brought about, by a member of
another tribe living some distance away. An expedi-
tion of some hundreds of warriors was at once fitted
out. The enemy was apparently only too ready for
the fray, because the armies promptly met in an
open plain, and I had an opportunity of witnessing
the extraordinary method by which the Australian
blacks wage war. One of the most redoubtable of our
chiefs stepped forward, and explained the reason of his
people's visit in comparatively calm tones. An opposing
chief replied to him, and gradually a heated altercation
arose, the abuse rising on a crescendo scale for ten or
fifteen minutes. These two then retired, and another
couple of champion abusers stepped forward to " dis-
cuss " the matter. This kind of thing went on for a
considerable time, the abuse being of the most appal-
ling description, and directed mainly against the organs
of the enemy's body (heart, liver, &c.), his ancestors,
"his ox, his ass, and everything that was his." At
length, when every conceivable thing had been said
that it was possible to say, the warriors drew near,
and at last some one threw a spear. This, of course,
was the signal for real action, and in a few minutes the
engagement became general. There was no strategy or
tactics of any kind, every man fighting single-handed.

112 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

But to return to the battle I was describing. After
a very few minutes' fighting the enemy were utterly
routed, and promptly turned tail and fled from the
scene of the encounter, leaving behind them — after all
the uproar and the flood of vilification — only three of
their warriors, and these not dead, but only more or
less badly wounded. Quarter being neither given nor
expected in these battles, the three prostrate blacks
were promptly despatched by the leader of my tribe,
the coup de grace being given with a waddy, or
knobbed stick. The three bodies were then placed on
litters made out of spears and grass, and in due time
carried into our own camp.

There were so many unmistakable signs to presage
what was coming that I kneiv a cannibal feast was
about to take place. But for obvious reasons I did not
protest against it, nor did I take any notice whatever.
The women (who do all the real work) fell on their
knees, and with their fingers scraped three long trenches
in the sand, each about seven feet long and three deep.
Into each of these ovens was placed one of the bodies
of the fallen warriors, and then the trench was filled up
— firstly with stones, and then with sand. On top of
all a huge fire was built, and maintained with great
fierceness for about two hours. There was great
rejoicing during this period of cooking, and apparently
much pleasurable anticipation among the triumphant
blacks. In due time the signal was given, and the
ovens laid open once more. I looked in and saw that
the bodies were very much burnt. The skin was
cracked in places and liquid fat was issuing forth. . . .
But, perhaps, the less said about this horrible spectacle
the better. With a yell, several warriors leaped into

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 113

each trench and stuck spears through the big "joints."
And the moment the roasted carcasses were taken out
of the trenches the whole tribe hterally fell upon them
and tore them limb from limb. I saw mothers with
a leg or an arm surrounded by plaintive children,
who were crying for their portion of the fearsome
dainty.

Others, who were considered to have taken more
than their share, were likewise fallen upon and
their "joint" subdivided and hacked to pieces with
knives made from shells. The bodies were not
cooked all through, so that the condition of some
of the revellers, both during and after the orgy,
may best be left to the imagination. A more ap-
palling, more ghastly, or more truly sickening
spectacle it is impossible for the mind of man to
conceive. A great corroboree was held after the
feast, but, with my gorge rising and my brain reel-
ing, I crept to my own humpy and tried to shut
out from my mind the shocking inferno I had just
been compelled to witness.

But let us leave so fearful a subject and consider
something more interesting and amusing.

CHAPTER VI

A weird duel — The tragedy of the baby whale — My boat is destroyed
— A ten miles' swim — Gigantic prizes — Swimming in the whale's
head — I make use of the visitors — A fight with an alligator —
The old craving — Bitter disappointment — My mysterious " flying
spears " — Dog-like fidelity — I present my " card " — The desert of
red sand.

THE women of the tribe lived amicably enough
together as a rule, but of course they had their
differences. They would quarrel about the merits
and demerits of their own families and countries; but
the greatest source of heartburning and trouble was
the importation of a new wife — especially if she
chanced to be better looking than the others. In such
cases, woe to the comparatively pretty wife. The
women certainly had a novel way of settling their
differences. The two combatants would retire to some
little distance, armed with one stick between them. They
would then stand face to face, and one would bend
forward meekly, whilst the other dealt her a truly
terrific blow between the shoulders or on the head —
not with a cane or a light stick, be it remembered,
but a really formidable club. The blow (which would
be enough to kill an ordinary white woman) would be
borne with wonderful fortitude, and then the aggressor
would hand the club to the woman she had just struck.
The latter would then take a turn ; and so it

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

115

would go on, turn and turn about, until one of the
unfortunate, stoical creatures fell bleeding and half-
senseless to the earth. The thing was magnificently
simple. The woman
who kept her senses
longest, and remained
on her legs to the end,

SETTLING A QUARREL

was the victor. There was no kind of ill-feeling after
these extraordinary combats, and the women would
even dress one another's wounds.

ii6 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

I now come to an event of very great importance
in my life. Elsewhere I have spoken oi my penchajit
for dugong hunting. Well, one day this sport effec-
tually put an end to all my prospects of reaching
civilisation across the sea. I went forth one morning,
accompanied by my ever- faithful Yamba and the
usual admiring crowd of blacks. In a few minutes
we two were speeding over the sunlit waters, my
only weapon being the steel harpoon I had brought
with me from the island, and about forty or fifty
feet of manilla rope. When we were some miles from
land I noticed a dark-looking object on the surface
of the water a little way ahead. Feeling certain it
was a dugong feeding on the well-known '* grass," I
rose and hurled my harpoon at it with all the force
I could muster. Next moment, to my amazement,
the head of a calf whale was thrust agonisingly into
the air, and not until then did I realise what manner
of creature it was I had struck. This baby whale was
about fifteen feet long, and it " sounded " immediately
on receiving my harpoon. As I had enough rope, or
what I considered enough, I did not cut him adrift.
He came up again presently, lashing the water with
his tail, and creating a tremendous uproar, consider-
ing his size. He then darted off madly, dashing
through the water like an arrow, and dragging our
boat at such a tremendous pace as almost to swamp
us in the foaming wash, the bow wave forming a
kind of wall on each side.

Up to this time I had no thought of danger, but
just as the baby whale halted I looked round, and
saw to my horror that its colossal mother had joined
her offspring, and was swimming round and round

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 117

it like lightning, apparently greatly disturbed by its suf-
ferings. Before I could even cut the line or attempt
to get out of the way, the enormous creature caught
sight of our little craft, and bore down upon us like
a fair-sized island rushing through the sea with the
speed of an express train. I shouted to Yamba,
and we both threw ourselves over the side into the
now raging waters, and commenced to swim away
with long strokes, in order to get as far as possible
from the boat before the catastrophe came which we
knew was at hand. We had not got many yards
before I heard a terrific crash, and, looking back, I
saw the enormous tail of the great whale towering
high out of the water, and my precious boat descend-
ing in fragments upon it from a height of from fifteen
feet to twenty feet above the agitated waters. Oddly
enough, the fore-part of the boat remained fixed to
the rope of the harpoon in the calf. My first
thought, even at so terrible a moment, and in so
serious a situation, was one of bitter regret for the
loss of what I considered the only means of reach-
ing civilisation. Like a flash it came back to me
how many weary months of toil and hope and ex-
pectancy I had spent over that darling craft; and
I remembered, too, the delirious joy of launching it,
and the appalling dismay that struck me when I
realised that it was worse than useless to me in
the inclosed lagoon. These thoughts passed through
my mind in a few seconds.

At this time we had a swim of some ten miles before
us, but fortunately our predicament was observed from
the land, and a crowd of blacks put out in their
catamarans to help us. Some of the blacks, as I hinted

ii8 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

before, always accompanied me down to the shore on
these trips. They never tired, I think, of seeing me
handle my giant " catamaran " and the (to them)
mysterious harpoon.

After the mother whale had wreaked its vengeance
upon my unfortunate boat it rejoined its little one,
and still continued to swim round and round it at
prodigious speed, evidently in a perfect agony of con-
cern. Fortunately the tide was in our favour, and we
were rapidly swept inshore, even when we floated
listlessly on the surface of the water. The sea was
quite calm, and we had no fear of sharks, being well
aware that we would keep them away by splashing in
the water.

Before long, the catamarans came up with us, but
although deeply grateful for Yamba's and my own
safety, I was still greatly distressed at the loss of
my boat. Never once did this thought leave my
mind. I remembered, too, with a pang, that I had
now no tools with which to build another; and to
venture out into the open sea on a catamaran, probably
for weeks, simply meant courting certain destruction.
I was a greater prisoner than ever.

My harpoon had evidently inflicted a mortal wound
on the calf whale, because as we looked we saw it
lying exhausted on the surface of the water, and
being gradually swept nearer and nearer the shore
by the swift-flowing tide. The mother refused to
leave her little one however, and still continued to
wheel round it continuously, even when it had reached
dangerously shallow water.

The result was that when the tide turned, both the
mother and her calf were left stranded high and dry

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 119

on the beach, to the unbounded delight and amaze-
ment of the natives, who swarmed round the leviathans,
and set up such a terrific uproar, that I verily believe
they frightened the mother to death. In her dying
struggle she lashed the water into a perfect fury with
her tail, and even made attempts to lift herself bodily
up. Furious smoke-signals were at once sent up to
summon all the tribes in the surrounding country —
enemies as well as friends. Next day the carcasses
were washed farther still inshore — a thing for which
the blacks gave me additional credit.

I ought to mention here that the loss of my boat
was in some measure compensated for by the enormous
amount of prestige which accrued to me through this
whale episode. To cut a long story short, the natives
fully believed that / had killed single-handed and
brought ashore both whales ! And in the corroborees
that ensued, the poets almost went delirious in trying
to find suitable eulogiums to bestow upon the mighty
white hunter. The mother whale surpassed in size
any I had ever seen or read about. I measured her
length by pacing, and I judged it to be nearly 150 feet.
My measurements may not have been absolutely ac-
curate, but still the whale was, I imagine, of record
size. As she lay there on the beach her head towered
above me to a height of nearly fifteen feet. Never
can I forget the scene that followed, when the blacks
from the surrounding country responded to the smoke-
signals announcing the capture of the "great fish."
From hundreds of miles south came the natives,
literally in their thousands — every man provided with
his stone tomahawk and a whole " armoury of shell
knives. They simply swarmed over the carcasses

120 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

like vermin, and I saw many of them staggering
away under solid lumps of flesh weighing between
thirty and forty pounds. The children also took
part in the general feasting, and they too swarmed
about the whales like a plague of ants.

A particularly enterprising party of blacks cut an
enormous hole in the head of the big whale, and in
the bath of oil that was inside they simply wallowed
for hours at a time, only to emerge in a condition that
filled me with disgust. There was no question of
priority or disputing as to whom the tit-bits of the
whale should go. Even the visitors were quite at
liberty to take whatever portion they could secure.
For about a fortnight this cutting-up and gorging went
on, but long before this the stench from the decompos-
ing carcasses was so horrible as to be painfully notice-
able at my camp, over a mile away. Some of the flesh
was cooked, but most of it was eaten absolutely raw.
The spectacle witnessed on the beach would have
been intensely comical were it not so revolting. Many
of the savages, both men and women, had gorged
themselves to such an extent as to be absolutely un-
able to walk ; and they rolled about on the sand, tearing
at the ground in agony, their stomachs distended in
the most extraordinary and disgusting manner. It
may amuse you to know that smoke-signals were at
once sent up for all the " doctors " in the country, and
these ministering angels could presently be seen with
their massage shells, rubbing the distended stomachs
of the sufferers as they lay on the beach. I saw some
men fairly howling with agony, but yet still devouring
enormous quantities of oil and blubber ! Besides the
massage treatment (with the thumbs as well as shells),

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 121

the " doctors " administered a kind of pill, or pellet,
of some green leaf, which they first chewed in their
own mouth and then placed in that of the patient. So
magical was this potent herb in its action, that I feel
sure it would make the fortune of an enterprising syn-
dicate. Other patients, who had obtained temporary
relief through the kind offices of the medicine-men,
returned to the whales again, and had another
enormous gorge. In fact, the blacks behaved more
like wild beasts of the lowest order than men, and in
a very short time — considering the enormous bulk of
the whales — nothing remained except the immense
bones.

On the other hand, the orgie had its uses from my
point of view, because I took advantage of the arrival
of so many strange tribes to make myself acquainted
with their chiefs, their languages, and their manners
and customs, in the hope that these people might be
useful to me some day when I commenced my journey
overland to civilisation. For, of course, all hope of
escape by sea had now to be abandoned, since my
boat was destroyed. Several days elapsed, however,
before I was able to remain in their presence without
a feeling of utter disgust. To be precise, I could
not talk to them before they ate, because they were
so anxious to get at the food ; and after the feast they
were too gorged with fat to be able to talk rationally.
In all my wanderings amongst the blacks I never came
across anything that interested them so much as a
whale.

Soon after the loss of the boat, Yamba made me
a small bark canoe about fifteen feet long, but
not more than fourteen inches wide, and in this we

122 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

undertook various little excursions together to the
various islands that studded the bay. The construc-
tion of this little canoe was very interesting. Yamba,
first of all, heated the bark, and then turned the rough
part underneath in order that the interior might be
perfectly smooth. She then sewed up the ends, finally
giving the little craft a coat of resin, obtained by
making incisions in the gum-trees. Of course, I
missed my own substantial boat, and it was some
little time before I grew accustomed to the frail canoe,
which necessitated the greatest possible care in hand-
ling, and also on the part of the passengers generally.

One day I decided to go and explore one of the
islands that studded Cambridge Gulf, in search of a
kind of shell mud-fish which I was very partial to. I
also wanted to make the acquaintance of the bats or
flying foxes I had seen rising in clouds every evening
at sunset. I required the skins of these curious crea-
tures for sandals. This would perhaps be a year after
my advent amongst the blacks. As usual, Yamba was
my only companion, and we soon reached a likely
island. As I could find no suitable place for landing,
I turned the canoe up a small creek. From this
course, however, my companion strongly dissuaded
me. Into the creek, nevertheless, we went, and
when I saw it was a hopeless impasse, I scrambled
ashore and waded through five inches or six inches
of mud. The little island was densely covered with
luxuriant tropical vegetation, the mangroves coming
right down to the water's edge; so that I had actually
to force my way through them to gain the top of the
bank. I then entered a very narrow track through
the forest, the bush on both sides being so dense as to

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 123

resemble an impenetrable wall or dense hedge. It is
necessary to bear this in mind to realise what followed.
I had not gone many yards along this track, when I
was horrified to see, right in front of me, an enormous
alligator ! This great reptile was shuffling along down
the path towards me, evidently making for the water,
and it not only blocked my advance, but also necessi-
tated my immediate retreat. The moment the brute
caught sight of me he stopped, and began snapping his
jaws viciously. I confess I was quite nonplussed for the
moment as to how best to commence the attack upon
this unexpected visitor. It was impossible for me to
get round him in any way, on account of the dense
bush on either side of the narrow forest track. I
decided, however, to make a bold dash for victory,
having always in mind the prestige that was so neces-
sary to my existence among the blacks. I therefore
walked straight up to the evil-looking monster ; then,
taking a short run, I leaped high into the air, shot over
his head, and landed on his scaly back, at the same
time giving a tremendous yell in order to attract
Yamba, whom I had left in charge of the boat.

The moment I landed on his back I struck the alli-
gator with all my force with my tomahawk, on what
I considered the most vulnerable part of his head. So
powerful was my stroke, that I found to my dismay
that I could not get the weapon out of his head again.
While I was in this extraordinary situation — standing
on the back of an enormous alligator, and tugging at
my tomahawk, embedded in its head — Yamba came
rushing up the path, carrying one of the paddles,
which, without a moment's hesitation, she thrust down
the alligator's throat as he turned to snap at her. She

124 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

immediately let go her hold and retreated. The
alligator tried to follow her, but the shaft of the
paddle caught among some tree trunks and stuck. In
this way the monster was prevented from moving his
head, either backwards or forwards, and then, drawing
my stiletto, I blinded him in both eyes, afterwards finish-
ing him leisurely with my tomahawk, when at length I
managed to release it. Yamba was immensely proud
of me after this achievement, and when we returned
to the mainland she gave her tribesmen a graphic
account of my gallantry and bravery. But she always
did this. She was my advance agent and bill-poster,
so to say. I found in going into a new country that
my fame had preceded me ; and I must say this was
most convenient and useful in obtaining hospitality,
concessions, and assistance generally. The part I had
played in connection with the death of the two whales
had already earned for me the admiration of the blacks
— not only in my own tribe, but all over the adjacent
country. And after this encounter with the alligator
they looked upon me as a very great and powerful
personage indeed. We did not bring the dead monster
back with us, but next day a number of the blacks
went over with their catamarans, and towed the reptile
back to the mainland, where it was viewed with open-
mouthed amazement by crowds of admiring natives.
So great was the estimation in which my prowess was
held, that little scraps of the dead alligator were dis-
tributed (as relics, presumably) among the tribes
throughout the whole of the surrounding country.
Singularly enough this last achievement of mine was
considered much more commendable than the killing
of the whale, for the simple re'hson that it sometimes

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 125

happened they caught a whale themselves stranded
on the beach ; whereas the killing of an alligator with
their primitive weapons was a feat never attempted.
They chanted praises in my honour at night, and
wherever I moved, my performances with the whales
and alligator were always the first things to be sung.
Nor did I attempt to depreciate my achievements ; on
the contrary, I exaggerated the facts as much as I pos-
sibly could. I described to them how I had fought and
Idlled the whale with my stiletto in spite of the fact
that the monster had smashed my boat. I told them
that I was not afraid of facing anything single-handed,
and I even went so far as to allege that I was good
enough to go out against a nation ! My whole object
was to impress these people with my imaginary great-
ness, and I constantly made them marvel at my prowess
with the bow and arrow. The fact of my being able
to bring down a bird on the wing was nothing more
nor less than a miracle to them. I was given the
name of "Winnimah" by these people, because my
arrows sped like lightning. Six of the alligator's teeth
I took for myself, and made them into a circlet which
I wore round my head.

Some little time after this incident I decided to
remave my dwelling-place to the top of a headland
on me other side of the bay, some twenty miles away,
where I thought I could more readily discern any sail
passing by out at sea. The blacks themselves, who
were well aware of my hopes of getting back to my
own people, had themselves suggested that I might
find this a more likely place for the purpose than the
low-ljang coast on which their tribe was then en-
camped. They also pointed out to me, however, that

126 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

I should find it cold living in so exposed a position.
But the hope of seeing passing sails decided me, and
one morning I took my departure, the whole nation
of blacks coming out in full force to bid us adieu.
I think the last thing they impressed upon me, in
their peculiar native way, was that they would always
be delighted and honoured to welcome me back among
them. Yamba, of course, accompanied me, as also
did my dog, and we were escorted across the bay by
a host of my native friends in their catamarans. I
pitched upon a fine bold spot for our dwelling-place,
but the blacks assured me that we would find it un-
comfortably cold and windy, to say nothing about
the loneliness, which I could not but feel after so
much intercourse with the friendly natives. I per-
sisted, however, and we at length pitched our encamp-
ment on the bleak headland, which I now know to
be Cape Londonderry, the highest northern point of
Western Australia. Occasionally some of our black
friends would pay us a visit, but we could never induce
them to locate their village near us.

Day after day, day after day, I gazed wistfully over
the sea for hours at a time, without ever seeing a sail,
and at last I began to grow somewhat despondent,
and sighed for the companionship of my black friends
once more. Yamba was unremitting in her endeavours
to make life pleasant for me and keep me well supplied
with the best of food ; but I could see that she, too, did
not like living on this exposed and desolate spot. So,
after a few weeks' experience of life there, I decided
to return to my bay home, and later on make pre-
parations for a journey overland to a point on the
Australian coast, where I learned ships quite frequently

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 127

passed. The point in question was Somerset Point, at
the extreme north of the Cape York peninsula ; and I
had learnt of its existence from Jensen when we were
pearl-fishing. The blacks were delighted to see me
on my return, and I remained with them several
months before attempting my next journey. They
were keenly anxious that I should join them in their
fighting expeditions, but 1 always declined, on the
ground that I was not a fighting man. The fact of the
matter was, that I could never hope to throw a spear
with anything like the dexterity they themselves pos-
sessed ; and as spears were the principal weapons used
in warfare, I was afraid I would not show up well at
a critical moment. Moreover, the warriors defended
themselves so dexterously with shields as to be all but
invulnerable, whereas I had not the slightest idea of
how to handle a shield. And for the sake of my
ever - indispensable prestige, 1 could not afford to
make myself ridiculous in their eyes. I always took
good care to let the blacks see me performing only
those feats which I felt morally certain I could accom-
plish, and accomplish to their amazement.

So far I had won laurels enough with my mysterious
arrows or "flying spears," as the natives considered
them, and my prowess with the harpoon and toma-
hawk was sung in many tribes. And not the least
awkward thing about my position was that I dared not
even attempt a little quiet practice in spear-throwing,
for fear the blacks should come upon me suddenly,
when I would most certainly lose caste. I had several
narrow escapes from this serious calamity, but most of
them cannot be published here. I must tell you, though,
that the blacks, when drinking at a river or water-hole,

128 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

invariably scoop up the water with their hands, and
never put their mouths right down close to the surface
of the water. Well, one day I was guilty of this
solecism. I had been out on a hunting expedition, and

BURNING THIRST

reached the water-hole with an intense burning thirst.
My mentor was not with me. I fell on my knees and
fairly buried my face in the life-giving fluid. Suddenly
I heard murmurs behind me. I turned presently and
saw a party of my blacks regarding me with horror.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 129

They said I drank like a kangaroo. But Yamba soon
came to the rescue, and explained away the dreadful
breach of etiquette, by telling them that I was not
drinking, but simply cooling my face ; when we were
alone she solemnly cautioned me never to do it
again.

The months passed slowly away, and I was still
living the same monotonous life among my blacks —
accompanying them upon their hunting expeditions,
joining in their sports, and making periodical trips
inland with Yamba, in preparation for the great journey
I proposed to make overland to Cape York. When I
spoke to my devoted companion about my plans, she
told me she was ready to accompany me wherever I
went — to leave her people and to be for ever by my
side. Right well I knew that she would unhesitatingly
do these things. Her dog-like fidelity to me never
wavered, and I know she would have laid down her
life for me at any time.

Often I told her of my own home beyond the
seas, and when I asked her whether she would come
with me, she would reply, " Your people are my people,
and your God (spirit) my God." I will go with you
wherever you take me."

At length everything was ready, and I paid a final
farewell, as I thought, to my black friends in Cambridge
Gulf, after a little over eighteen months' residence
among them. They knew I was venturing on a long
journey overland to another part of the country
many moons distant, in the hope of being able to get
into touch with my own people ; and though they
realised they should never see me again, they thought
my departure a very natural thing. The night before

I30 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

we left, a great corroboree was held in my honour.
We had a very affectionate leave-taking, and a body of
the natives escorted us for the first lOO miles or so of
our trip. At last, however, Yamba, myself, and the
faithful dog were left to continue our wanderings alone.
The reliance I placed upon this woman by the way
was absolute and unquestioning. I knew that alone I
could not live a day in the awful wilderness through
which we were to pass ; nor could any solitary white
man. By this time, however, I had had innumerable
demonstrations of Yamba's almost miraculous powers
in the way of providing food and water when, to the
ordinary eye, neither was forthcoming. I should have
mentioned that before leaving my black people I
had provided myself with what I may term a native
passport — a kind of Masonic mystic stick, inscribed
with certain cabalistic characters. Every chief carried
one of these sticks. I carried mine in my long,
luxuriant hair, which I wore " bun " fash 'on, held in a
net of opossum hair. This passport stick proved
invaluable as a means of putting us on good terms
with the different tribes we encountered. The chiefs
of the blacks never ventured out of their own country
without one of these mysterious sticks, neither did the
native message-bearers. I am sure I should not have
been able to travel far without mine.

Whenever I encountered a strange tribe I always
asked to be taken before the chief, and when in his
presence I presented my little stick, he would at once
manifest the greatest friendliness, and oifer us food
and drink. Then, before I took my departure, he
also would inscribe his sign upon the message stick,
handing it back to me and probably sending me on

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 131

to another tribe with an escort. It often happened,
however, that I was personally introduced to another
tribe whose "frontier" joined that of my late hosts,
and in such cases my passport was unnecessary.

At first the country through which our wanderings
led us was hilly and well wooded, the trees being
particularly fine, many of them towering up to a height
of 1 50 feet or 200 feet. Our principal food consisted
of roots, rats, snakes, opossum, and kangaroo. The
physical conditions of the country were constantly
changing as we moved farther eastward, and Yamba's
ingenuity was often sorely taxed to detect the where-
abouts of the various roots necessary for food. It was
obviously unfair to expect her to be familiar with the
flora and fauna of every part of the great Australian
Continent. Sometimes she was absolutely nonplused,
and had to stay a few days with a tribe until the
women initiated her into the best methods of cooking
the roots of the country. And often we could not
understand the language. In such cases, though, when
spoken words were unlike those uttered in Yamba's
country, we resorted to a wonderful sign-language
which appears to be general among the Australian
blacks. All that Yamba carried was a basket made
of bark, slung over her shoulder, and containing a
variety of useful things, including some needles made
out of the bones of birds and fish ; a couple of light
grinding-stones for crushing out of its shell a very
sustaining kind of nut found on the palm trees, &c.
Day after day we walked steadily on in an easterly
direction, guiding ourselves in the daytime by the sun,
and in the evening by opossum scratches on trees and
the positions of the ant-hills, which are always built

132 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

facing the east. We crossed many creeks and rivers,
sometimes wading and at others time swimming.

Gradually we left the hilly country behind, and
after about five or six weeks' tramping got into an
extraordinary desert of red sand, which gave off a dust
from our very tracks that nearly suffocated us. Each
water-hole we came across now began to contain less
and less of the precious liquid, and our daily menu
grew more and more scanty, until at length we were
compelled to live on practically nothing but a few roots
and stray rats. Still we plodded on, finally striking
a terrible spinifex country, which was inconceivably
worse than anything we had hitherto encountered.
In order to make our way through this spinifex (the
terrible " porcupine grass " of the Australian interior),
we were bound to follow the tracks made by kan-
garoos or natives, otherwise we should have made no
progress whatever. These tracks at times wandered
about zigzag fashion, and led us considerable distances
out of our course, but, all the same, we dare not leave
them. Not only was water all but unobtainable here,
but our skin was torn with thorns at almost every
step. Yamba was terribly troubled when she found
she could no longer provide for my wants. For-
tunately the dew fell heavily at night, and a sufficient
quantity would collect on the foliage to refresh me
somewhat in the morning. How eagerly would I
lick the precious drops from the leaves ! Curiously
enough, Yamba herself up to this time did not seem
distressed from lack of water ; but nothing about this
marvellous woman surprised me. It took us about ten
days to pass through the awful spinifex desert, and for
at least eight days of that period we were virtually

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 133

without water, tramping through never-ending tracts
of scrub, prickly grass, and undulating sand-hills of a
reddish colour. Often and often I blamed myself
bitterly for ever going into that frightful country at
all. Had I known beforehand that it was totally un-
inhabited I certainly should not have ventured into
it. We were still going due east, but in consequence
of the lack of water-holes, my heroic guide thought it
advisable to strike a little more north.

CHAPTER VII

The agonies of thirst — A ghastly drink — I ask Yamba to kill me — My
ministering angel — How Yamba caught opossum — The water
witch — A barometer of snakes — The coming deluge — The plunge
into the Rapids — A waste of waters — A fearful situation — Barking
alligators — English-speaking natives— A ship at last — I abandon
hope — The deserted settlement.

BY this time I began to feel quite delirious ; I
fear I was like a baby in Yamba's hands. She
knew that all I wanted was water, and became almost
distracted when she could not find any for me. Of
herself she never thought. And yet she was full of
strange resources and devices. When I moaned aloud
in an agony of thirst, she would give me some kind
of grass to chew ; and although this possessed no real
moisture, yet it promoted the flow of saliva, and thus
slightly relieved me.

Things grew worse and worse, however, and the
delirium increased. Hour after hour through the
endless nights would that devoted creature sit by my
side, moistening my lips with the dew that collected
on the grass. On the fifth day without water I
suffered the most shocking agonies, and in my lucid
moments gave myself up for lost. I could neither
stand nor walk, speak nor swallow. My throat seemed
to be almost closed up, and when I opened my eyes
everything appeared to be going round and round in

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES 135

the most dizzy and sickening manner. My heart beat
with choking violence, and my head ached, so that I
thought I was going mad. My bloodshot eyes (so
Yamba subsequently told me) projected from their
sockets in the most terrifying manner, and a horrible
indescribable longing possessed me to kill my faithful
Bruno, in order to drink his blood. My poor Bruno !
As 1 write these humble lines, so lacking in literary
grace, I fancy I can see him lying by my side in that
glaring, illimitable wilderness, his poor, dry tongue
lolling out, and his piteous brown eyes fixed upon me
with an expression of mute appeal that added to my
agony. The only thing that kept him from collapsing
altogether was the blood of some animal which Yamba
might succeed in killing.

Gradually I grew weaker and weaker, and at last
feeling the end was near, I crawled under the first
tree I came across — never for a moment giving a
thought as to its species, — and prepared to meet the
death I now fervently desired. Had Yamba, too,
given up, these lines would never have been written.
Amazing to relate, she kept comparatively well and
active, though without water; and in my most violent
paroxysm she would pounce upon a lizard or a rat,
and give me its warm blood to drink, while yet it lived.
Then she would masticate a piece of iguana flesh and
give it to me in my mouth, but I was quite unable to
swallow it, greatly to her disappointment. She must
have seen that I was slowly sinking, for at last she
stooped down and whispered earnestly in my ear that
she would leave me for a little while, and go off in
k^f search of water. Like a dream it comes back to me
how she explained that she had seen some birds

136 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

passing overhead, and that if she followed in the
same direction she was almost certain to reach water
sooner or later.

I could not reply; but I felt it was a truly hopeless
enterprise on her part. And as I did not want her to
leave me, I remember I held out my tomahawk feebly
towards her, and signed to her to come and strike
me on the head with it, and so put an end to my
dreadful agonies. The heroic creature only smiled
and shook her head emphatically. She took the prof-
fered weapon, however, and after putting some dis-
tinguishing marks on my tree with it, she hurled it
some distance away from me. She then stooped and
propped me against the trunk of the tree; and then
leaving my poor suffering dog to keep me company,
she set out on her lonely search with long, loping
strides of amazing vigour.

It was late in the afternoon when she took her
departure ; and I lay there hour after hour, sometimes
frantically delirious, and at others in a state of semi-
consciousness, fancying she was by my side with
shells brimming over with delicious water. I would
rouse myself with a start from time to time, but, alas !
my Yamba was not near me. During the long and
deathly stillness of the night, the dew came down
heavily, and as it enveloped my bed, I fell into a
sound sleep, from which I was awakened some hours
later by the same clear and ringing voice that had
addressed me on that still night on my island sand-
spit. Out upon the impressive stillness of the air
rang the earnest words : " Coupe Varbre ! Coupe
rarbre ! "

I was quite conscious, and much refreshed by my

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 137

sleep, but the message puzzled me a great deal. At
first I thought it must have been Yamba's voice, but
I remembered that she did not know a word of French ;
and when I looked round there was no one to be seen.
The mysterious message still rang in my ears, but I
was far too weak to attempt to cut the tree myself, I
lay there in a state of inert drowsiness until, rousing
myself a little before dawn, I heard the familiar foot-
steps of Yamba approaching the spot where I lay.
Her face expressed anxiety, earnestness, and joy.

In her trembling hands she bore a big lily leaf con-
taining two or three ounces of life-giving water. This
I drank with gasping eagerness, as you may suppose.
My delirium had now entirely left me, although I was
still unable to speak. I signed to her to cut the tree,
as the voice in my dream had directed me. Without
a word of question Yamba picked up the tomahawk
from where she had hurled it, and then cut vigorously
into the trunk, making a hole three or four inches deep.
It may seem astonishing to you, but it surprised me
in no wise when out from the hole there trickled a
clear, uncertain stream of water, under which Yamba
promptly held my fevered head. This had a wonder-
fully refreshing effect upon me, and in a short time I
was able to speak feebly but rationally, greatly to the
delight of my faithful companion. As, however, I was
still too weak to move, I indulged in another and far
sounder sleep. I do not know the scientific name of
that wonderful Australian tree which saved my life,
but believe it is well known to naturalists. I have
heard it called the " bottle tree," from the shape of
the trunk. All through that terrible night, while
Yamba was far away searching for water, Bruno had

138 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

never left my side, looking into my face wistfully, and
occasionally licking my body sympathetically with his
poor, parched tongue. Whilst I was asleep the second
time, Yamba went off with the dog in search of food,
and returned with a young opossum, which was soon
frizzHng in an appetising way on a tripod of sticks
over a blazing fire. I was able to eat a little of the
flesh, and we obtained all the water we wanted from
our wonderful tree. Of course, Yamba was unac-
quainted with the fact that water was stored in its
interior. As a rule, her instinct might be depended
upon implicitly ; and even after years of her companion-
ship I used to be filled with wonder at the way in
which she would track down game and find honey.
She would glance at a tree casually, and discern on
the bark certain minute scratches, which were quite
invisible to me, even when pointed out. She would
then climb up like a monkey, and return to the ground
with a good-sized opossum, which would be roasted in
its skin, with many different varieties of delicious
roots.

When I had quite recovered, Yamba told me she had
walked many miles during the night, and had finally
discovered a water-hole in a new country, for which
she said we must make as soon as I was sufficiently
strong. Fortunately this did not take very long, and
on reaching the brink of the water-hole we camped
beside it for several days, in order to recuperate. I
must say that the water we found here did not look
very inviting — it was, in fact, very slimy and green in
colour ; but by the time we took our departure there
was not a drop left. Yamba had a method of filtration
which excited my admiration. She dug another hole

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 139

alongside the one containing the water, leaving a few
inches of earth between them, through which the water
would percolate, and collect in the second hole perfectly
filtered.

At other times, when no ordinary human being could
detect the presence of water, she would point out to
me a little knob of clay on the ground in an old
dried-up water-hole. This, she told me, denoted the
presence of a frog, and she would at once thrust down
a reed about eighteen inches long, and invite me to
suck the upper end, with the result that I imbibed
copious draughts of delicious water.

At the water-hole just described birds were rather
plentiful, and when they came down to drink, Yamba
knocked them over without difficulty. They made a
very welcome addition to our daily bill of fare. Her
mode of capturing the birds was simplicity itself. She
made herself a long covering of grass that completely
enveloped her, and, shrouded in this, waited at the
edge of the water- hole for the birds to come and drink.
Then she knocked over with a stick as many as she
required. In this way we had a very pleasant spell of
rest for four or five days. Continuing our journey
once more, we pushed on till in about three weeks we
came to a well-wooded country, where the eucalyptus
flourished mightily and water was plentiful; but yet,
strange to say, there was very little game in this region.
Soon after this, I noticed that Yamba grew a little
anxious, and she explained that as we had not come
across any kangaroos lately, nor any blacks, it was
evident that the wet season was coming on. We there-
fore decided to steer for higher ground, and accordingly
went almost due north for the next few days, until

140 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

we reached the banks of a big river — the Roper River,
as I afterwards found out — where we thought it ad-
visable to camp. This would probably be sometime
in the month of December.

One day I saw a number of small snakes swarming
round the foot of a tree, and was just about to knock
some of them over with my stick, when Yamba called
out to me excitedly not to molest them. They then
began to climb the tree, and she explained that this
clearly indicated the advent of the wet season. " I
did not wish you to kill the snakes," she said, " because
I wanted to see if they would take refuge in the trees
from the coming floods."

Up to this time, however, there had not been the
slightest indication of any great change in the weather.
Many months must have elapsed since rain had
fallen in these regions, for the river was extremely
low between its extraordinarily high banks, and the
country all round was dry and parched ; but even
as we walked, a remarkable phenomenon occurred,
which told of impending changes. I was oppressed
with a sense of coming evil. I listened intently when
Yamba requested me to do so, but at first all I could
hear was a curious rumbling sound, far away in the
distance. This noise gradually increased in volume,
and came nearer and nearer, but still I was utterly
unable to account for it. I also noticed that the river
was becoming strangely agitated, and was swirling
along at ever-increasing speed. Suddenly an enormous
mass of water came rushing down with a frightful roar,
in one solid wave, and then it dawned upon me that it
must have already commenced raining in the hills, and
the tributaries of the river were now sending down

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 141

their floods into the main stream, which was rising
with astonishing rapidity. In the course of a couple
of hours it had risen between thirty and forty feet.
Yamba seemed a little anxious, and suggested that
we had better build a hut on some high ground and
remain secure in that locality, without attempting to
continue our march while the rains lasted ; and it was
evident they were now upon us.

We therefore set to work to construct a comfortable
little shelter of bark, fastened to a framework of poles
by means of creepers and climbing plants. Thus, by
the time the deluge was fairly upon us, we were quite
snugly ensconced. We did not, however, remain in-doors
throughout the whole of the day, but went in and out,
hunting for food and catching game just as usual ; the
torrential rain which beat down upon our naked bodies
being rather a pleasant experience than otherwise. At
this time we had a welcome addition to our food in the
form of cabbage-palms and wild honey. We also started
building a catamaran, with which to navigate the river
when the floods had subsided. Yamba procured a few
trunks of very light timber, and these we fastened
together with long pins of hardwood, and then bound
them still more firmly together with strips of kangaroo
hide. We also collected a stock of provisions to take
with us — kangaroo and opossum meat, of course; but
principally wild honey, cabbage-palm, and roots of
various kinds. These preparations took us several
days, and by the time we had arranged everything for
our journey the weather had become settled once more.
Yamba remarked to me that if we simply drifted down
the Roper River we should be carried to the open sea ;
nor would we be very long, since the swollen current

142 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

was now running like a mill-race. Our catamaran, of
course, afforded no shelter of any kind, but we carried
some sheets of bark to form seats for ourselves and
the dog.

At length we pushed off on our eventful voyage, and
no sooner had we got fairly into the current than we
were carried along with prodigious rapidity, and without
the least exertion on our part, except in the matter of
steering. This was done by means of paddles from
the side of the craft. We made such rapid progress
that I felt inclined to go on all night, but shortly after
dusk Yamba persuaded me to pull in-shore and camp
on the bank until morning, because of the danger of
travelling at night among the logs and other wreckage
that floated about on the surface of the water.

We passed any number of submerged trees, and
on several of these found snakes coiled among the
branches. Some of these reptiles we caught and ate.
About the middle of the second day we heard a tre-
mendous roar ahead, as though there were rapids in
the bed of the river. It was now impossible to pull
the catamaran out of its course, no matter how hard
we might have striven, the current being absolutely
irresistible. The banks narrowed as the rapids were
reached, with the result that the water in the middle
actually became convex, so tremendous was the rush in
that narrow gorge. Yamba cried out to me to lie
flat on the catamaran, and hold on as tightly as I could
until we reached smooth water again. This she did
herself, seizing hold of the dog also.

Nearer and nearer we were swept to the great seeth-
ing caldron of boiling and foaming waters, and at
last, with a tremendous splash we entered the terrify-

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 143

ing commotion. We went right under, and so great
was the force of the water, that had I not been cHnging
tenaciously to the catamaran I must infalHbly have
been swept away to certain death. Presently, how-
ever, we shot into less troubled waters and then con-
tinued our course, very little the worse for having
braved these terrible rapids. Had our craft been a
dug-out boat, as I originally intended it to be,
we must inevitably have been swamped. Again we
camped on shore that night, and were off at an early
hour next morning. As we glided swiftly on, I noticed
that the river seemed to be growing tremendously
wide. Yamba explained that we were now getting
into very flat country, and therefore the great stretch
of water was a mere flood. She also prophesied a
rather bad time for us, as we should not be able to go
ashore at night and replenish our stock of provisions.
Fortunately we had a sufficient supply with us on the
catamaran to last at least two or three days longer.
The last time we landed Yamba had stocked an
additional quantity of edible roots and smoked meats,
and although we lost a considerable portion of these
in shooting the rapids, there still remained enough for
a few days' supply.

In consequence of the ever-increasing width of the
river, I found it a difficult matter to keep in the
channel where the current was, so I gave up the
steering paddle to Yamba, who seemed instinctively
to know what course to take.

On and on we went, until at length the whole
country as far as the eye could reach was one vast
sea, extending virtually to the horizon; its sluggish
surface only broken by the tops of the submerged

144 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

trees. One day we sighted a number of little islets
some distance ahead, and then we felt we must be
nearing the mouth of the river. The last day or
two had been full of anxiety and inconvenience for
us, for we had been simply drifting aimlessly on,
without being able to land and stretch our cramped
limbs or indulge in a comfortable sleep. Thus the
sight of the islands was a great relief to us, and
my ever- faithful and considerate companion remarked
that as we had nothing to fear now, and I was weary
with my vigil of the previous night, I had better try
and get a little sleep. Accordingly I lay down on the
catamaran, and had barely extended my limbs when I
fell fast asleep. I awoke two or three hours later, at
mid-day, and was surprised to find that our catamaran
was not moving. I raised myself up, only to find
that we had apparently drifted among the tops of a
ring of trees rising from a submerged island. "Halloa!"
I said- to Yamba, " are we stuck ? " " No," she replied
quietly, " but look round."

You may judge of my horror and amazement when
I saw outside the curious ring of tree-tops, scores
of huge alligators peering at us with horrid stolidity
through the branches, some of them snapping their
capacious jaws with a viciousness that left no doubt as
to its meaning. Yamba explained to me that she had
been obliged to take refuge in this peculiar but con-
venient shelter, because the alligators seemed to be
swarming in vast numbers in that part of the river.
She had easily forced a way for the catamaran
through the branches, and once past, had drawn
them together again. The ferocious monsters could
certainly have forced their way into the inclosure

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF

after us, but they didn't seem to realise that such
a thing was possible, apparently being quite content
to remain outside. Judge, then, our position for
yourself — with a scanty food supply, on a frail plat-
form of logs, floating among the tree-tops, and literally
besieged by crowds of loathsome alligators ! Nor did

ALLIGATORS PEERING AT US

we know how long our imprisonment was likely to
last. Our poor dog, too, was terribly frightened, and
sat whining and trembling in a most pitiable way in
spite of reassuring words and caresses from Yamba
and myself. I confess that I was very much alarmed,
for the monsters would occasionally emit a most
peculiar and terrifying sound — not unlike the roar of a

146 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

lion. Hour after hour we sat there on the swaying
catamaran, praying fervently that the hideous reptiles
might leave us, and let us continue our journey in peace.
As darkness began to descend upon the vast waste of
waters, it occurred to me to make a bold dash through
the serried ranks of our besiegers, but Yamba restrained
me, telling me it meant certain death to attempt to run
the gantlet under such fearsome circumstances.

Night came on. How can I describe its horrors ?
Even as I write, I seem to hear the ceaseless roars
of those horrible creatures, and the weird but gentle
lappings of the limitless waste that extended as far
as the eye could reach. Often I was tempted to give
up in despair, feeling that there was no hope whatever
for us. Towards morning, however, the alligators
apparently got on the scent of some floating carcasses
brought down by the floods, and one and all left us.
Some little time after the last ugly head had gone
under, the catamaran was sweeping swiftly and noise-
lessly down the stream again.

We made straight for a little island some distance
ahead of us, and found it uninhabited. Black and
white birds, not quite so large as pigeons, were very
plentiful, as also were eggs. Soon my Yamba had
a nice meal ready for me, and then we lay down for
a much-needed rest. After this we steered for a large
island some nine or ten miles distant, and as we ap-
proached we could see that this one was inhabited,
from the smoke-signals the natives sent up the moment
they caught sight of us.

As we came nearer we could see the blacks as-
sembling on the beach to meet us, but, far from show-
ing any friendliness, they held their spears poised

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 147

threateningly, and would no doubt have thrown them
had I not suddenly jumped to my feet and made signs
that I wished to sit down with them — to parley with
them. They then lowered their spears, and we landed ;
but to my great disappointment neither Yamba nor I
could understand one word of their language, which
was totally different from the dialect of Yamba's
country. Our first meeting was conducted in the
usual way — squatting down on our haunches, and then
drawing nearer and nearer until we were able to rub
noses on one another's shoulders. I then explained
by means of signs that I wanted to stay with them a
few days, and I was inexpressibly relieved to find
that my little passport stick (which never left my
possession for a moment), was recognised at once, and
proved most efficacious generally. After this I became
more friendly with my hosts, and told them by signs
that I was looking for white people like myself,
whereupon they replied I should have to go still
farther south to find them. They took us to their
camp, and provided us with food, consisting mainly
of fish, shell-fish, and roots. So far as I could
ascertain, there were no kangaroo or opossum on
the island. After two or three days, I thought it
time to be continuing our journey; but feeling con-
vinced that I must be in the vicinity of the Cape
York Peninsula — instead of being on the west coast
of the Gulf of Carpentaria — I decided not to go south
at all, but to strike due north, where I felt certain
Somerset Point lay ; and I also resolved to travel by
sea this time, the blacks having presented me with a
very unsubstantial " dug-out " canoe. Leaving behind
us the catamaran that had brought us so many hun-

148 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

dreds of miles, we set out on our travels once more —
taking care, however, never to lose sight of the coast-
line on account of our frail craft. We passed several
beautiful islands, big and little, and on one that we
landed I came across some native chalk drawings on
the face of the rock. They depicted rude figures of
men — I don't remember any animals — but were not
nearly so well done as the drawings I had seen in
caves up in the Cape Londonderry district.

We also landed from time to time on the mainland,
and spoke with the chiefs of various tribes. They were
all hostile at first. On one occasion we actually met
one or two blacks who spoke a few words of English.
They had evidently been out with pearlers at some
time in their lives, but had returned to their native
wilds many years before our visit. I asked them if
they knew where white men were to be found, and
they pointed east (Cape York), and also indicated that
the whites were many moons' journey away from us.
I was sorely puzzled. A glance at a map of Australia
will enable the reader to realise my great blunder.
Ignorant almost of Australian geography I fancied, on
reaching the western shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria,
that I had struck the Coral Sea, and that all I had to
do was to strike north to reach Somerset, the white
settlement I had heard about from the pearlers. I
felt so confident Cape York lay immediately to the
north, that I continued my course in that direction,
paddling all day and running in-shore to camp at
night. We lived mainly on shell-fish and sea-birds'
eggs at this time, and altogether life became terribly
wearisome and monotonous. This, however, was
mainly owing to my anxiety.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 149

About a fortnight after leaving the mouth of the
Roper River we came to a place which I now know to
be Point Dale. We then steered south into a beautiful
landlocked passage which lies between the mainland
and Elcho Island, and which at the time I took to be
the little strait running between Albany Island and
Cape York. I steered south-west in consequence;
and after a time, as I did not sight the points I was on
the look-out for, I felt completely nonplused. We
landed on Elcho Island and spent a day or two th^^re.
Being still under the impression that Cape York was
higher up, I steered west, and soon found myself in a
very unpleasant region. We explored almost every
bay and inlet we came across, but of course always
with the same disheartening result. Sometimes we
would come near being stranded on a sandbank, and
would have to jump overboard and push our craft into
deeper water. At others, she would be almost swamped
in a rough sea, but still we stuck to our task, and
after passing Goulbourn Island we followed the coast.
Then we struck north until we got among a group of
islands, and came to Croker Island, which goes direct
north and south. Day after day we kept doggedly on,
hugging the shore very closely, going in and out of
every bay, and visiting almost every island, yet never
seeing a single human being. We were apparently
still many hundreds of miles away from our destina-
tion. To add to the wretchedness of the situation, my
poor Yamba, who had been so devoted, so hardy, and
so contented, at length began to manifest symptoms
of illness, and complained gently of the weariness of
it all. "You are looking," she would say, " for a place
that does not exist. You are looking for friends of

ISO DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

whose very existence you are unaware." I would not
give in, however, and persuaded her that all would be
well in time, if only she would continue to bear with
me. Both of us were terribly cramped in the boat;
and by way of exercise one or the other would occa-
sionally jump overboard and have a long swim. When-
ever we could we landed at night.

One morning, shortly after we had begun our usual
trip for the day, and were rounding a headland, I was
almost stupefied to behold in front of me the masts
of a boat (which I afterwards found to be a Malay
proa), close in-shore. The situation, in reality, was
between Croker's Island and the main, but at the time
I thought that I had at length reached Somerset. I
sprang to my feet in a state of the greatest excitement.
"Thank God! thank God!" I shouted to Yamba;
"we are saved at last! — saved — saved — saved!" As
I shouted, I pulled the canoe round and made for the
vessel with all possible despatch. We very soon
came up with her, and found her almost stranded, in
consequence of the lowness of the tide. I promptly
clambered aboard, but failed to find a soul. I thought
this rather strange, but as I could see a hut not
very far away, close to the beach, I steered towards
it. This little dwelling, too, was uninhabited, though
I found a number of trays of fish lying about, which
afterwards I found to be bccJie-de-mer being dried and
smoked. Suddenly, while Yamba and I were investi-
gating the interior of the hut, a number of Malays
unexpectedly appeared on the scene, and I then realised
I had had the good fortune to come across a Malay
beche-de-mer expedition.

The fishermen were exceedingly surprised at seeing

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 151

Yamba and me; but when they found I could speak
their language a little they evinced every sign of de-
light, and forthwith entertained us most hospitably on
. board their craft, which was a boat often or fifteen tons.
They told me they had come from the Dutch islands
south of Timor, and promptly made me an offer that
set my heart beating wildly. They said they were
prepared to take me back to Kopang, if I wished ; and
I, on my part, offered to give them all the pearl shells
left on my little island in the Sea of Timor — the lati-
tude of which I took good care not to divulge — on
condition that they called there. They even offered
Yamba a passage along with me ; but, to my amazement
and bitter disappointment, she said she did not wish to
go with them. She trembled as though with fear. She
was afraid that when once we were on board, the
Malays would kill me and keep her.

One other reason for this fear I knew, but it in no
way mitigated my acute grief at being obliged to
decline what would probably be my only chance of
returning to civilisation. For this I had pined day and
night for four or five years, and now that escape was
within my grasp I was obliged to throw it away. For
let me emphatically state, that even if civilisation had
been but a mile away, I would not have gone a yard
towards it without that devoted creature who had been
my salvation, not on one occasion only, but practically
every moment of my existence.

With passionate eagerness I tried to persuade Yamba
to change her mind, but she remained firm in her de-
cision ; and so, almost choking with bitter regret, and
in a state of utter collapse, I had to decline the offer
of the Malays. We stayed with them, however, a few

152 t)E ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

weeks longer, and at length they accompanied me to
a camp of black fellows near some lagoons, a little
way farther south of their own camp. Before they
left, they presented me with a quantity of beche-de-mer,
or sea-slugs, which make most excellent soup. At the
place indicated by the Malays, which was in Raffles
Bay, the chief spoke quite excellent English. One of
his wives could even say the Lord's Prayer in English,
though, of course, she did not know what she was
talking about. " Captain Jack Davis," as he called
himself, had been for some little time on one of her
Majesty's ships, and he told me that not many marches
away there was an old European settlement ; he even
offered to guide me there, if I cared to go. He first
led me to an old white settlement in Raffles Bay, called,
I think. Fort Wellington, where I found some large fruit-
trees, including ripe yellow mangoes. There were, be-
sides, raspberries, strawberries, and Cape gooseberries.
Needless to remark, all this made me very happy and
contented, for I felt I must now be getting near the
home of some white men. I thought that, after all,
perhaps Yamba's refusal to go with the Malays was
for the best, and with high hopes I set out with
Captain Davis for another settlement he spoke of.
This turned out to be Port Essington, which we
reached in two or three days. Another cruel blow
was dealt me here.

You can perhaps form some idea of my poignant
dismay and disappointment on finding that this dreary-
looking place of swamps and marshes was quite
deserted, although there were still a number of ruined
brick houses, gardens, and orchards there. The blacks
told me that at one time it had been one of the most

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF

153

important penal settlements in Australia, but had to
be abandoned on account of the prevalence of malarial
fever arising from the swamps in the neighbour-
hood. I came across a number of graves, which were
evidently those of the exiled settlers ; and one of
the wooden headstones bore the name of Captain Hill

CATCHING WATER-FOWL

(I think that was the name). I have an idea that the
fence round this old cemetery still remained. There
was food in abundance at this place — raspberries,
bananas, and mangoes grew in profusion ; whilst the
marshes were inhabited by vast flocks of geese, ducks,
white ibis, and other wild-fowl. Indeed in the swamps
the birds rose in such prodigious numbers as actually

154 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

to obscure the face of the sun. Here for the first time
I saw web-footed birds perched in trees.

The blacks had a very pecuHar method of catching
water-fowl. They would simply wade through the
reeds into the water almost up to their necks, and
then cover their heads with a handful of reeds.
Remaining perfectly still, they would imitate the cry
of different wild-fowl. Then at a convenient oppor-
tunity, they would simply seize a goose or a duck by
the leg, and drag it down under the water until it was
drowned. The number of water-fowl caught in this
way by a single black fellow was truly astonishing.

After having remained a fortnight at Port Essington
itself, we returned to Raffles Bay, where Yamba and
I made a camp among the blacks and took up our
residence among them ; for Captain Davis had told me
that ships called there occasionally, and it was possible
that one might call soon from Port Darwin. The
vessels, he added, came for buffalo meat — of which
more hereafter. I had decided to remain among these
people some little time, because they knew so much
about Europeans, and I felt sure of picking up know-
ledge which would prove useful to me.

CHAPTER VIII

In the throes of fever — A ghastly discovery — Pitiful relics — A critical
moment — Yamba in danger — A blood bath — A luxury indeed —
Signs of civilisation — The great storm — Drifting, drifting —
Yamba's mysterious glee — A dreadful shock — "Welcome home !"
— My official protectors — Myself as a cannibal war chief — Prepara-
tions for battle — A weird apparition — Generosity to the vanquished
— The old desire.

I HAD not been established in this camp many days,
however, before I was struck down, for the first
time, with a terrible attack of malarial fever, probabl}'
produced by the many hours I had spent wading in
the swamps at Port Essington. There were the usual
symptoms — quick flushings and fever heats, followed
by violent fits of shivering, which no amount of natural
warmth could mitigate. My faithful Yamba was ter-
ribly distressed at my condition, and waited upon me
with most tender devotion ; but in spite of all that
could be done for me, I grew gradually weaker, until
in the course of a few days I became wildly delirious.
The blacks, too, were very good to me, and doctored
me, in their quaint native way, with certain leaves and
powders. All to no purpose, however ; and for several
days I was even unable to recognise my Yamba. Then
the fever subsided somewhat, and I was left as weak
and helpless as a little child.

It was some time before I quite recovered from the

156 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

fever ; and I was frequently seized with distressing fits
of shivering. I also experienced an overwhelming
desire for a drink of milk ; why, I am unable to say.
Therefore, when some of the blacks told me that wild
buffalo were to be found in the neighbourhood — beasts
which had formerly belonged to settlers, but were now
run wild — I resolved, when sufficiently strong, to try
and capture one of the cows for the sake of its milk.
Captain Davis ridiculed the idea, and assured me that
it was only possible to slay one with a rifle; but I
determined to see what I could do.

Yamba, of course, accompanied me on my expe-
dition, and her bushmanship was altogether quite
indispensable. We came upon buffalo tracks near a
large water-hole, and here we each climbed a gum-tree
and awaited the arrival of our prey. We waited a
long time, but were at length rewarded by seeing a
big cow buffalo and her calf wandering leisurely in
our direction. My only weapons were a lasso made
out of green kangaroo hide, fixed to the end of a long
pole ; and my bow and arrows. I slid down the tree
a little way, and when the calf was near enough, I
gently slipped the noose over its neck, and promptly
made it a prisoner under the very nose of its
astonished mother, who bellowed mournfully. My
success so elated Yamba that she, too, slid down from
her hiding-place, and was making her way over to me
and the calf, when suddenly an enormous bull, which we
had not previously seen, rushed at her at full speed.
Yamba instantly realised her danger, and swarmed up a
tree again like lightning, just as the great brute was
upon her. I called out to her to attract the attention of
the old bull whilst I attended to the mother and calf. I

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 157

dropped my pole to which the lasso was attached, and
allowed the little one to walk quickly away with it;
but, as I anticipated, the trailing shaft soon caught
between the stumps of some trees, and made the calf
a more secure prisoner than ever. It was a curious
repetition of the story of the two whales. The mother
walked round and round, and appeared to be in the
greatest distress. She never left her little one's side,
but continued to bellow loudly, and lick the calf to coax
it away. Quietly sliding down my tree, I made my
way to where Yamba was still holding the attention of
the bull — a fiery brute who was pawing the ground
with rage at the foot of her tree. I had fitted an arrow
to my bow, and was preparing to shoot, when, unfor-
tunately, the bull detected the noise of my approach,
and rushed straight at me. I confess it was rather a
trying moment, but I never lost my head, feeling con-
fident of my skill with the bow — which I had practised
off and on ever since I had left school at Montreux.
I actually waited until the charging monster was within
a few paces, and then I let fly. So close was he that
not much credit is due to me for accurate aim. The
arrow fairly transfixed his right eye, causing him to
pull up on his haunches, and roar with pain.

Yamba, full of anxiety, hurried down her tree ; but
she had scarcely reached the ground when the baffled
bull wheeled and charged her, with more fury than
ever. She simply glided behind a tree, and then I
showed myself and induced the bull to charge me
once more. Again I waited until he was almost upon
me, and then I sent another arrow into his other eye,
blinding him completely. On this, the poor brute
brought up sharp, and commenced to back in an

158 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

uncertain way, bellowing with pain. I forgot all my
fever in the excitement, and rushing upon the beast
with my tomahawk, I dealt him a blow on the side
of the head that made him stagger. I brought him to
the earth with two or three more blows, and a few
minutes later had administered the coup-de-grdce. No
sooner was the big bull dead than I determined to test
the efficacy of a very popular native remedy for fever
— for shivering fits still continued to come upon me
at most awkward times, usually late in the day. No
matter how much grass poor Yamba brought me as
covering, I never could get warm, and so now I
thought I would try some animal heat.

Scarce had life left the body of the prostrate bull
before I ripped open the carcass between the fore and
hind legs ; and after remarking to Yamba, " I am going
to have heat this time," I crawled into the interior. My
head, however, was protruding from the buffalo's chest.
Yamba understood perfectly well what I was doing;
and when I told her I was going to indulge in a long
sleep in my curious resting-place, she said she would
keep watch and see that I was not disturbed. I re-
mained buried in the bull's interior for the rest of the
day and all through the night. Next morning, to my
amazement, I found I was a prisoner, the carcass
having got cold and rigid, so that I had literally to
be dug out. As I emerged I presented a most ghastly
and horrifying spectacle. My body was covered with
congealed blood, and even my long hair was all matted
and stiffened with it. But never can I forget the
feeling of exhilaration and strength that took posses-
sion of me as I stood there looking at my faithful
companion. / was absolutely cured — a new man, a

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 159

giant of strength ! I make a present of the cure to
the medical profession.

Without delay I made my way down to the lagoon
and washed myself thoroughly, scrubbing myself with
a kind of soapy clay, and afterwards taking a run in
order to get dry. This extraordinary system of apply-
ing the carcass of a freshly killed animal is invariably
resorted to by the natives in case of serious illness, and
they look upon it as an all but infallible cure. Certainly
it was surprisingly efficacious in my own case.

Next day we directed our attention to the capture
of the cow, which was still wandering around her im-
prisoned little one, and only leaving it for a few minutes
at a time in order to get food. I constructed a small
fence or inclosure of sticks, and into this we managed
to drive the cow. We then kept her for two days
without food and water, in order to tame her, and did
not even let her little calf come near her. We then
approached her, and found her perfectly subdued, and
willing to take food and water from us precisely as
though she were the gentlest Alderney.

I found I was even able to milk her; and I can
assure you that I never tasted anything more delicious
in my life than the copious draughts of fresh milk I
indulged in on that eventful morning. In fact, I prac-
tically lived on nothing else for the next few days, and
it pulled me round in a most surprising way. The
flesh of the dead buffalo I did not touch myself, but
handed it over to the blacks, who were vastly impressed
by my prowess as a mighty hunter. They themselves
had often tried to kill buffalo with their spears, but had
never succeeded. I removed the bull's hide, and made
a big rug out of it, which I found very serviceable

i6o DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

indeed in subsequent wet seasons. It was as hard as
a board, and nearly half an inch thick.

When I returned to " Captain Davis " and the rest of
my friends at Raffles Bay, I was quite well and strong
once more, and I stayed with them three or four
months, hunting almost ever}' day (there were even
wild ponies and English cattle — of course, relics of the
old settlement), and picking up all the information I
could. I had many conversations with Davis himself,
and he told me that I should probably find white men
at Port Darwin, which he said was between three and
four hundred miles away. The tribe at Port Essington,
I may mention, only numbered about fifty souls.
This was about the year 1868. Captain Davis — who
was passionately fond of tobacco, and would travel
almost any distance to obtain an ounce or two from
the Malay bechc-de-iner fishers — pointed out to me a
blazed tree near his camp on which the following
inscription was cut : —

LUDWIG Leichhardt,

Overland from Sydney,

1847.

It was therefore evident that this district had already
been visited by a white man ; and the fact that he had
come overland filled me with hopes that some day I,
too, might return to civilisation in the same way. The
English-speaking black chief assured me that his
father had acted as guide to Leichhardt, but whether
the latter got back safely to Sydney again he never
knew. The white traveller, he said, left Port Essington
in a ship.

Having considered all things, I decided to attempt

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF i6i

to reach Port Darwin by boat, in the hope of finding
Europeans living there. At first I thought of going
overland, but in discussing my plans with '* Captain
Davis," he told me that I would have to cross swamps,
fords, creeks, and rivers, some of which were alive
with alligators. He advised me to go by water, and
also told me to be careful not to be drawn into a
certain large bay I should come across, because of the
alligators that swarmed on its shores. The bay that
he warned me against was, I think. Van Dieman's Gulf.
He told me to keep straight across the bay, and then
pass between Melville Island and the main. He fitted
me out with a good stock of provisions, including a
quantity of bec/ie-de-mer, cabbage-palm, fruit, &c. I
arranged my buffalo skin over my provisions as a pro-
tection, turtle-back fashion. Our preparations com-
pleted, Yamba and I and the dog pushed out into the
unknown sea in our frail canoe, which was only about
fifteen feet long and fourteen inches wide. Of course,
we kept close in-shore all the time, and made pretty
good progress until we passed Apsley Strait, avoiding
the huge Van Dieman's Gulf, with its alligator-infested
rivers and creeks. We must have been close to Port
Darwin when, with little or no warning, a terrific storm
arose, and quickly carried us out to sea in a south-
westerly direction. In a moment our frail little craft
was partially swamped, and Yamba and I were com-
pelled to jump overboard and hang on to the gunwale
on either side to prevent it from being overwhelmed
altogether. This was about a fortnight after I left
Captain Davis. We knew that if we were swamf)ed,
all our belongings, including my poor Bruno, my
live geese, water, and other provisions, would be lost

1 62 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

in the raging sea. The night that followed was per-
haps one of the most appaUing experiences that ever
befell me ; but I had by this time become so inured
to terrible trials that I merely took it as a matter
of course.

Imagine for yourself the scene. The giant waves
are rolling mountains high ; the darkness of night is
gathering round us fast, and I and my heroic wife are
immersed in the tremendous sea, hanging on for dear
life to a little dug-out canoe only fourteen inches wide.
Although we were soon thoroughly exhausted with
our immersion in the water, we dared not climb
aboard. Will it be believed that all night lo?ig we
were compelled to remain in the sea, clinging to the
canoe, half drowned, and tossed about like the insig-
nificant atoms we were in the midst of the stupendous
waves, which were literally ablaze with phosphor-
escent light ? Often as those terrible hours crawled
by, I would have let go my hold and given up alto-
gether were it not for Yamba's cheery and encouraging
voice, which I heard above the terrific roar of the
storm, pointing out to me how much we had been
through already, and how many fearful dangers we
had safely encountered together. It seemed to me
like the end of everything. I thought of a certain
poem relating to a man in a desperate situation,
written, I believe, by an American, whose name I
could not remember. It described the heart-breaking
efforts made by a slave to obtain his freedom. How
bloodhounds were put upon his track; how he is at
last cornered in a swamp, and as he looks helplessly
up at the stars he asks himself, " Is it life, or is it
death ? " As I hung on to the little dug-out, chilled

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 163

to the very marrow, and more than half drowned
by the enormous seas, I recalled the whole poem and
applied the slave's remarks to myself. " Can it be
possible," I said, " after all the struggles I have made
against var3'ing fortune, that I am to meet death
now ? " I was in absolute despair. Towards the
early hours of the morning Yamba advised me to
get into the canoe for a spell, but she herself remained
hanging on to the gunwale, trying to keep the head
of the little canoe before the immense waves that were
still running. I was very cold and stiff, and found it
difficult to climb aboard. As the morning advanced,
the sea began to abate somewhat, and presently Yamba
joined me in the canoe. We were, however, unable
to shape our course for any set quarter, since by this
time we were out of sight of land altogether, and had
not even the slightest idea as to our position.

All that day we drifted aimlessly about, and then,
towards evening, a perfect calm settled on the sea.
When we were somewhat rested we paddled on in
a direction where we concluded land must lie (we
steered south-east for the main) ; and in the course of
a few hours we had the satisfaction of seeing a little
rocky island, which we promptly made for and landed
upon. Here we obtained food in plenty in the form
of birds ; but drinking-water was not to be found
anywhere, so we had to fall back on the small stock
we always carried in skins. Judging from tlie ap-
pearance of the rocks, and the smell that pervaded
the place, I imagined that this must be a guano island.
I now knew that we were near Port Darwin, but as a
fact ive had passed it in the great stonn, i^'htie we
were fighting for our lives. We slept on the island

1 64 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

that night, and felt very much better next morning
when we started out on our voyage once more, visiting
every bay and inlet. Hope, too, began to reassert
itself, and I thought that after all we might be able
to reach Port Darwin in spite of the distance we must
have been driven out of our course. Several islands
studded the sea through which we were now steadily
threading our way, and that evening we landed on one
of these and camped for the night. Next day we were
off again, and as the weather continued beautifully fine
we made splendid progress.

One evening a few days after the storm, as we were
placidly paddling away, I saw Yamba's face suddenly
brighten with a look I had never seen on it before,
and I felt sure this presaged some extraordinary
announcement. She would gaze up into the heavens
with a quick, sudden motion, and then her intelligent
eyes would sparkle like the stars above. I questioned
her, but she maintained an unusual reserve, and, as
I concluded that she knew instinctively we were ap-
proaching Port Darwin, I, too, felt full of joy and
pleasure that the object of our great journey was at
length about to be achieved. Alas ! what awaited me
was only the greatest of all the astounding series of
disappointments — one indeed so stunning as to plunge
me into the very blackest depths of despair.

Yamba still continued to gaze up at the stars, and
when at length she had apparently satisfied herself
upon a certain point, she turned to me with a shout
of excited laughter and delight, pointing frantically at
a certain glowing star. Seeing that I was still puzzled
by her merriment, she cried, "That star is one you
remember well." I reflected for a moment, and then

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 165

the whole thing came to me hke a flash of lightning.
Yamba was approaching her own home once more — the
very point from which we had both started eighteen
months previously ! In the storm, as I have already
said, we had passed Port Darwin altogether, having
been driven out to sea.

I tell you, my heart nearly burst when I recalled
the awful privations and hardships we had both experi-
enced so recently ; and when I realised that all these
things had been absolutely in vain, and that once more
my trembling hopes were to be dashed to the ground
in the most appalling manner, I fell back into the canoe,
utterly crushed with horror and impotent disappoint-
ment. Was there ever so terrible an experience ?
Take a map of Australia, and see for yourself my
frightful blunder — mistaking the west coast of the Gulf
of Carpentaria for the eastern waters of the Cape York
Peninsula, and then blindly groping northward and
westward in search of the settlement of Somerset,
which in reality lay hundreds of miles north-east of
me. I was unaware of the very existence of the great
Gulf of Carpentaria. But were it not for having had
to steer north to get out of the waterless plains, I
might possibly have reached the north-eastern coast of
the continent in due time, avoiding the Roper River
altogether.

Yamba knelt by my side and tried to comfort me in her
own sweet, quaint way, and she pictured to me — scant
consolation — how glad her people would be to have us
both back amongst them once more. She also urged
what a great man I might be among her people if only
I would stay and make my home with them. Even
her voice, however, fell dully on my ears, for I was

1 66 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

fairly mad with rage and despair — with myself, for
not having gone overland to Port Darwin from Port
Essington, as, indeed, I should most certainly have
done were it not that Davis had assured me the
greater part of the journey lay through deadly swamps
and creeks, and great waters swarming with alligators.
I had even had in my mind the idea of attempting to
reach Sydney overland ! but thought I would first of
all see what facilities in the way of reaching civilisa-
tion Port Darwin had to offer. Now, however, I was
back again in Cambridge Gulf, — in the very spot I had
left a year and a half ago, and where I had landed
with my four blacks from the island sand-spit. But
you, my readers, shall judge of my feelings.

We landed on an island at the mouth of the gulf,
and Yamba made smoke-signals to her friends on the
mainland, telling them of our return. We resolved it
would never do to confess we had been driven back.
No, we had roamed about and had come back to our
dear friends of our own free-will, feeling there was no
place like home ! Just think what a role this was for
me to play, — with my whole being thrilling with an
agony of helpless rage and bitter disappointment.

This time, however, we did not wait for the blacks
to come out and meet us, but paddled straight for the
beach, where the chiefs and all the tribe were as-
sembled in readiness to receive us. The first poignant
anguish being passed, and the warmth of welcome
being so cordial and excessive (they cried with joy), I
began to feel a little easier in my mind and more re-
signed to inexorable fate. The usual ceremony of
nose-rubbing on shoulders was gone through, and
almost every native present expressed his or her

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 167

individual delight at seeing us again. Then they
besieged us with questions, for we were now great
travellers. A spacious " humpy " or hut was built
without delay, and the blacks vied with one another
in bringing me things which I sorely needed, such as
fish, turtles, roots, and eggs.

That evening a corroborce on a gigantic scale was
held in my honour ; and on every side the blacks mani-
fested great rejoicing at m}' return, — which, of course,
they never dreamed was involuntary. Human nature
is, as I found, the same the world over, and one
reason for my warm welcome was, that my blacks had
just been severely thrashed by a neighbouring tribe,
and were convinced that if I would help them to
retaliate, they could not fail to inflict tremendous
punishment upon their enemies. By this time, having
become, as I said before, somewhat resigned to my
fate, I consented to lead them in their next battle, on
condition that two shield-bearers were provided to
protect me from the enemy's spears. This being the
first time I had ever undertaken war operations with
my friends, I determined that the experiment sliould
run no risk of failure, and that my dignity should in
no way suffer. I declared, first of all, that I would
choose as my shield-bearers the two most expert men
in the tribe. There was much competition for these
honoured posts, and many warriors demonstrated their
skill before me.

At length I chose two stalwart fellows, named
respectively Warriga and Bommera, and every day for
a week they conducted some trial manoeuvres with
their friends. There would be a kind of ambush pre-
pared, and flights of spears would be hurled at me.

1 68 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

only to be warded off with astonishing dexterity by
my alert attendants. All I was provided with was my
steel tomahawk and bow and arrows. I never really
became expert with the spear and shield, and I knew
only too well that if I handled these clumsily I should
immediately lose prestige among the blacks.

After a week or two of practice and sham combats,
I felt myself pretty safe with my two protectors, and
I then began organising an army to lead against the
enemy. Altogether I collected about loo fighting
men, each armed with a bundle of throwing spears, a
shield made of light wood, and a short, heavy waddy
or club for use at close quarters. When everything
was in readiness, I marched off at the head of my
" army " and invaded the enemy's country. We were
followed by the usual crowd of women-folk, who saw
to the commissariat department and did the transport
themselves. On the first day out, we had to ford a
large stream— a branch of the Victoria River, I think
— and at length reached a suitable place in which to
engage the enemy. It is difficult for me to fix the exact
locality, but I should judge it to be between Murchison
and Newcastle ranges. The country in which the
operations took place was a fine open grassy plain,
thinly skirted with trees and with mountains almost
encircling it in the distance.

I ought here to describe my personal appearance on
this important day, when, for the first time, I posed as
a great chief, and led my people into battle, filled with
the same enthusiasm that animated them. My hair was
built up on strips of whalebone to a height of nearly
two feet from my head, and was decorated with black
and white cockatoo feathers. My face, which had now

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 169

become very dark from exposure to the sun, was deco-
rated in four colours — yellow, white, black, and red.

There were two black-and-white arched stripes
across the forehead, and a yellow curving line across
each cheek under the eye. I also wore a fairly long
beard, moustache, and side-whiskers. There were
four different-coloured stripes on each arm, whilst on
the body were four vari-coloured stripes, two on each
side ; and a long, yellow, curving stripe extended across
the stomach, belt-wise. Around my middle I wore a
kind of double apron of emu skin, with feathers.
There were other stripes of different-coloured ochres
on my legs, so that altogether you may imagine I
presented a terrifying appearance. Of this, however,
I soon grew quite oblivious — a fact which I afterwards
had occasion bitterly to regret. It were, indeed, well
for me that I had on subsequent occasions realised
better the bizarre nature of my appearance, for had I
done so I would probably have reached civilisation
years before I did.

At this period, then, you find me a fully equipped
war chief of the cannibal blacks, leading them on to
battle attired as one of their own chiefs in every
respect, and with nearly all their tribal marks on my
body. When we reached the battle-ground, my men
sent up smoke-signals of defiance, announcing the fact
of our invasion, and challenging the enemy to come
down from the mountains and fight us. This challenge
was promptly responded to by other smoke-signals,
but as at least a day must elapse before our antagonists
could arrive I spent the interval in devising a plan of
battle — oddly enough, on the lines of a famous historic
Swiss encounter at Grandson five or six centuries ago.

I/O DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

I arranged that fifty or sixty men, under the leadership
of a chief, should occupy some high ground in our
rear, to form a kind of ambush.

They were also to act as a reserve, and were in-
structed to come rushing to our assistance when I
signalled for them, yelling out their weird war-cry of
" Warra-hoo-oo, — warra-hoo-oo ! " I concluded that
this in itself would strike terror into the hearts of our
opponents, who were accustomed to see the whole force
engaged at one time, and knew nothing about troops
held in reserve, or tactics of any kind whatsoever.
Tiie native method of procedure, as, I think, I have
already remarked, was usually to dash pell-mell at one
another after the abuse and fight, until one side or the
other drew blood, without which no victory could be
gained.

Just before the battle commenced I had a real
inspiration which practically decided the affair without
any fighting at all. It occurred to me that if I mounted
myself on stilts, some eighteen inches high, and shot
an arrow or two from my bow, the enemy would turn
tail and bolt. And so it turned out. As the armies
approached one another in full battle array they pre-
sented quite an imposing appearance, and when a
suitable distance separated them they halted for the
inevitable abusive parley. Into the undignified abuse,
needless to remark, I did not enter, but kept well in
the background. The spokesman of my tribe accused
the enemy of being without pluck — said that they
were cowards, and would soon have their livers eaten
by the invaders. There was any amount of spear-
brandishing, yelling, and gesticulating. For these
blacks apparentl}'^ find it impossible to come up to

THE ENEMY TURNED AND FLED

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES 173

actual fighting pitch without first being worked up to
an extraordinary degree of excitement.

When at length the abuse had got perfectly delirious,
and the first spear was about to be thrown, I dashed
to the front on my stilts. Several spears were launched
at me, but my shield-bearers turned them on one side.
I then shot half-a-dozen arrows into the enemy's ranks
in almost as many seconds. The consternation pro-
duced by this flight of " invisible spears " was perfectly
indescribable. With a series of appalling yells the
enemy turned and fled pell-mell. My men gave chase,
and wounded many of them. In the midst of the rout
(the ruling thought being always uppermost), it occurred
to me that it might be a useful stroke of business to
make friends with this vanquished tribe, since they might
possibly be of service to me in that journey to civilisa-
tion, the idea of which I never really abandoned from
the day I was cast upon my little sand-spit. Further-
more, it flashed across my mind that if I made these
nomadig tribes interested in me and my powers, news
of my isolation might travel enormous distances inland
— perhaps even to the borders of civilisation itself.

I communicated my ideas to my men, and they
promptly entered into my views. They consented to
help me with great readiness. While I was speaking
with them, the vanquished warriors had re-formed into
position some three or four hundred yards away, and
were watching our movements with much curiosity. I
now abandoned my stilts and my bow and arrows, and
marched off with my chiefs in the direction of our late
opponents.

As we approached, with branches in our hands as
flags of truce, I signed to tlie startled men that we

174 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

wished to be friendly; and when we halted, several
chiefs came forward unarmed from the ranks of the
enemy to confer with us. At first they were much
surprised at my overtures, but I soon convinced them
of my sincerity, and they at length consented to accept
my offers of friendship. They acknowledged at once
my superiority and that of my men, and presently all
the chiefs came forward voluntarily and squatted at my
feet in token of subjection. The two armies then
united, and we all returned to a great encampment,
where the women prepared a truly colossal feast for
conquerors and conquered alike, and the greatest
harmony prevailed. It was magnificent, but I am sure
it was not war. The braves of both sides decorated
themselves with many pigments in the evening, and the
two tribes united in one gigantic corroboree, which was
kept up all night, and for several days afterwards. We
remained encamped in this district for about a week,
holding continuous corroboree, and each day becoming
more and more friendly with our late enemies. The
country abounded in game, and as the rivers were also
well stocked with fish the supply of food was abundant.
At the end of the week, however, we retired to our
respective homes, but, strangely enough, I felt I could
no longer settle down to the old life among my friendly
blacks.

The old desire for wandering came over me, and I
resolved that some day in the near future I would make
yet another attempt to reach civilisation, this time
striking directly south. For a time, however, I forced
myself to remain content, accompanying the men on
their hunting expeditions and going out fishing with
my devoted Yamba.

CHAPTER IX

The children's sports — A terrible ordeal — Queer notions of beauty —
How little girls are taught — Domestic quarrels — Telltale foot-
prints— I grow weary — Off on a long cruise — Astounding news —
A foreign tongue — Yaniba has seen the girls — A remarkable
"letter" — A queer notion of decoration — Vamba as "advance
agent" — I meet the girls — A distressing interview — ^Jealousy of
the native women.

I WAS much interested in the children of the blacks,
and observed all their interesting ways. It is not
too much to say in the case of both boys and girls that
they can swim as soon as they can walk. There is no
squeamishness whatever on the part of the mothers,
who leave their little ones to tumble into rivers, and
remain out naked in torrential rains, and generally
shift for themselves. From the time the bo^s are
three years old they commence throwing toy spears at
one another as a pastime. For this purpose, long dry
reeds, obtained from the swamps, are used, and the
little fellows practise throwing them at one another
from various distances, the only shields allowed being
the palms of their own little hands. They never seem
to tire of the sport, and acquire amazing dexterity at it.
At the age of nine or ten they abandon the reeds and
adopt a heavier spear, with a wooden shaft and a point
of hard wood or bone. All kinds of interesting com-
petitions are constantly organised to test the boys' skill,

176 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

the most valued prizes being the approbation of parents
and elders.

A small ring of hide, or creeper, is suspended from the
branch of a tree, and the competitors have to throw
their spears clean through it at a distance of twenty
paces. All the chiefs and fighting men of the tribe
assemble to witness these competitions, and occasion-
ally some little award is made in the shape of anklets
and bangles of small shells, strung together with human
hair. The boys are initiated into the ranks of the
" men and warriors " when they reach the age of about
seventeen.

This initiation ceremony, by the way, is of a very
extraordinary character. Many of the details cannot
be published here. As a rule, it takes place in
the: spring, when the mimosa is in bloom, and other
tribes come from all parts to eat the nuts and gum.
We will say that there are, perhaps, twenty youths
to undergo the ordeal, which is conducted far from
all camps and quite out of the sight of women and
children. The candidate prepares himself by much
fasting, giving up meat altogether for at least a week
before the initiation ceremony commences. In some
cases candidates are despatched on a tramp extending
over many days; and such implicit faith is placed in
their honour that judges are not even sent with them
to see that everything is carried out fairly. They
must accomplish this task within a given period, and
without partaking of either food or water during the
whole time. No matter how great the temptation may
be on the route, they conform strictly to the rules of
the test, and would as soon think of running themselves
through with a spear, as of seeking a water-hole. The

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 177

inspectors who judge at this amazing examination are,
of course, the old and experienced chiefs.

After the fasting comes the ordeal proper. The
unfortunate candidate presents himself before one of the
examiners, and settles his face into a perfectly stoical
expression. He is then stabbed repeatedly on the
outside of the thighs and in the arms (never once is
an artery cut) ; and if he remains absolutely statuesque
at each stab, he comes through the most trying part of
the ordeal with flying colours. A motion of the lips,
however, or a mutter — these are altogether fatal. Not
even a toe must move in mute agony ; nor may even
a muscle of the eyelid give an uneasy and involuntary
twitch. If the candidate fails in a minor degree, he is
promptly put back, to come up again for the next
examination ; but in the event of his being unable to
stand the torture, he is contemptuously told to go and
herd with the women — than which there is no more
humiliating expression.

While yet the candidate's wounds are streaming
with blood, he is required to run with lightning speed
for two or three miles and fetch back from a given spot
a kind of toy lance planted in the ground. Then, having
successfully passed the triple ordeals of fasting, stab-
bing, and running against time, and without food and
water, the candidate, under the eyes of his admiring
father, is at length received into the ranks of the bravest
warriors, and is allowed to take a wife. At the close
of the ceremony, the flow of blood from the candidate's
really serious flesh-wounds is stopped by means of
spiders' webs, powdered charcoal, and dry clay powder.

With regard to the girls, I am afraid they received
but scant consideration.

178 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

Judged by our standard, the women were far from
handsome. They had very bright eyes, broad, flat
noses, low, narrow foreheads, and heavy chins. But
there are comely exceptions. And yet at big corroborees
on the occasion of a marriage, the men always chanted
praises to the virtue and beauty of the bride !

The girl who possessed an exceptionally large and
flat nose was considered a great beauty. Talking
about noses, it was to me a remarkable fact, that the
blacks consider a warrior with a big nose and large
distended nostrils a man possessed of great staying
power. For one thing, they consider his breathing
apparatus exceptionally perfect.

As a general rule (there are exceptions in the case
of a very "beautiful" woman), when a woman dies
she is not even buried ; she simply lies where she has
fallen dead, and the camp moves on to another place
and never returns to the unholy spot. And it may
be mentioned here that the blacks never allude to
a dead person by name, as they have a great horror
of departed spirits. And so childish and suspicious
are they, that they sometimes even cut off the feet of
a dead man to prevent his running about and frighten-
ing them at inconvenient moments. I used to play
upon their fears, going out into the bush after dark,
and pretending to commune with the evil spirits. The
voice of these latter was produced by means of reed
whistles. Once I made myself a huge, hideous mask
out of a kangaroo skin, with holes slit in it for the
nose, mouth, and eyes. I would don this strange
garb in the evenings, and prowl about the vicinity of
the camp, holding blazing torches behind the mask, and
emitting strange noises — sometimes howling like a wolf

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 179

and at others shouting aloud in my natural voice. On
these occasions the blacks thought I was in my natural
element as a spirit. But they never ventured to
follow me or attempted to satisfy themselves that I
was not fooling them all the while. Yamba, of course,
knew the joke, and as a rule helped me to dress for the
farce, but she took good care never to tell any one the
secret. No doubt had the blacks ever learned that it
was all done for effect on my part, the result would
have been very serious ; but I knew I was pretty
secure because of the abnormal superstition prevalent
among them.

The women, as I have before hinted, are treated in
a horribly cruel manner, judged from our standpoint;
but in reality they know not what cruelty is, because
they are absolutely ignorant of kindness. They are
the beasts of burden, to be felled to the earth with a
bludgeon when they err in some trivial respect; and
when camp is moved each woman carries virtually the
whole household and the entire worldly belongings of
the family. Thus it is a common sight to see a woman
carrying a load consisting of one or two children and
a quantity of miscellaneous implements, such as heavy
grindstones, stone hatchets, sewing-bones, yam-sticks,
&c. During the shifting of the camp the braves them-
selves stalk along practically unencumbered, save only
for their elaborate shield, three spears (never more),
and a stone tomahawk stuck in their belt of woven
opossum hair. The men do not smoke, knowing
nothing of tobacco, but their principal recreation and
relaxation from the incessant hunting consists in the
making of their war weapons, which is a very import-
ant part of their daily life. They will even fell a whole

i8o DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

tree, as has already been explained, to make a single
spear shaft: As to the shield, the elaborate carving
upon it corresponds closely with the prowess of the
owner; and the more laurels he gains, the more intri-
cate and elaborate becomes the carving on his shield.
Honour prevents undue pretence.

But we have wandered away from the consideration
of the girl-children. The baby girls play with their
brothers and participate in their fights until they are
perhaps ten years of age. They are then expected to
accompany their mothers on the daily excursions in
search of roots. When the little girls are first taken
out by their mothers they are instructed in the use of
the yam-stick, with which the roots are dug up out
of the earth. The stick used by the women is gene-
rally three feet or four feet long, but the girl novices
use a short one about fifteen inches in length. Each
woman, as I have said elsewhere, is also provided with
a reed basket or net, in which to hold the roots, this
being usually woven out of strings of prepared bark ;
or, failing that, native flax or palm straw.

But the unfortunate wife occasionally makes the
acquaintance of the heavy yam-stick in a very un-
pleasant, not to say serious, manner. Of course, there
are domestic rows. We will suppose that the husband
has lately paid a great amount of attention to one of
his younger wives — a circumstance which naturally
gives great offence to one of the older women. This
wife, when she has an opportunity and is alone with
her husband, commences to sing or chant a plaint — a
little thing of quite her own composing.

Into this song she weaves all the abuse which long
experience tells her will lash her husband up to boiling-

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF

i8i

point. The later stanzas complain that the singer has
been taken from her own home among a nation of real
warriors to live among a gang of skulkinsr cowards.

ABUSING THE HUSBAND

whose hearts, livers, and other vital organs arc not at
all up to the standard of her people.

The epithets are carefully arranged up a scale until
they reach bandy-legged — an utterly unpardonable

I 82 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

insult. But there is, beyond this, one other unpublish-
able remark, which causes the husband to take up the
yam-stick and fell the singer with one tremendous blow,
which is frequently so serious as to disable her for many
days. The other women at once see to their sister, who
has incurred the wrath of her' lord, and rub her wounds
with weird medicaments. The whole shocking busi-
ness is regarded as quite an ordinary affair ; and after
the sufferer is able to get about again she bears her
husband not the slightest ill-feeling. You see, she
has had her say and paid for it.

The girls, as they grow up, are taught to cook
according to the native fashion, and are also required
to build ovens in the earth or sand ; make the fires,
build "break- winds," and generally help their mothers
in preparing meals. When at length the meal is cooked,
the manner of eating it is very peculiar. First of
all, the women retire into the background. The lord
and master goes and picks out the tit-bits for him-
self, and then sits down to eat them off a small
sheet of bark. More often, however, he simply tears
the meat in pieces with his hands. During his meal,
the wives and children are collected behind at a re-
spectful distance, awaiting their own share. Then, as
the warrior eats, he literally hurls certain oddments
over his shoulder, which are promptly pounced upon
by the wives and children in waiting. It sometimes
happens, however, that a favourite child — a boy in-
variably, never a girl (it is the girls who are eaten
by the parents whenever there are any superfluous
children to be got rid of) — will approach his father
and be fed with choice morsels from the great man's
" plate."

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 183

Each tribe has its own particular country over
which it roams at pleasure, and the boundaries are
defined by trees, hillocks, mountains, rocks, creeks,
and water-holes. And from these natural features
the tribes occasionally get their names. Outside the
tribal boundary — which often incloses a vast area —
the blacks never go, except on a friendly visit to a
neighbouring camp. Poaching is one of the things
punishable with death, and even if any woman is
caught hunting for food in another country she is
seized and punished. I will tell you later on how
even Yamba "put her foot" in it in this way.

The blacks are marvellously clever at tracking a
man by his footprints, and a poacher from a neigh-
bouring tribe never escapes their vigilance, even though
he succeeds in returning to his own people without
being actually captured. So assiduously do these
blacks study the footprints of people they know and
are friendly with, that they can tell at once whether
the trespasser is an enemy or not ; and if it be a
stranger, a punitive expedition is at once organised
against his tribe.

Gradually I came to think that each man's track
must have an individuality about it quite as remark-
able as the finger-prints investigated by Galton and
Bertillon. The blacks could even tell a man's name
and many other things about him, solely from his
tracks — how, it is of course impossible for me to say.
I have often known my blacks to follow a man's track
over hard rocks, where even a disturbed leaf proved an
infallible clue, yielding a perfectly miraculous amount
of information. They will know whether a leaf has
been turned over by the wind or by human agency !

i84 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

But to continue my narrative. Yamba was very
anxious that I should stay and make my home among
her people, and so, with the assistance of other women,
she built me a substantial beehive-shaped hut, fully
twenty feet in diameter and ten feet high. She pointed
out to me earnestly that I had everything I could pos-
sibly wish for, and that I might be a very great man
indeed in the country if only I would take a prominent
part in the affairs of the tribe. She also mentioned that
so great was my prowess and prestige, that if I wished
I might take unto myself a whole army of wives ! —
the number of wives being the sole token of greatness
among these people. You see they had to be fed, and
that implied many great attributes of skill and strength.
Nevertheless, I pined for civilisation, and never let a
day go by without scanning the bay and the open sea
for a passing sail. The natives told me they had seen
ships at various times, and that attempts had even
been made to reach them in catamarans, but without
success, so far out at sea were the vessels passing.

Gradually, about nine months after my strange return
to my Cambridge Gulf home, there came a time when
life became so monotonous that I felt I imist have a
change of some sort, or else go mad. I was on the
very best of terms with all my blacks, but their mode
of living was repulsive to me. I began to loathe
the food, and the horrible cruelty to the women fre-
quently sickened me. Whenever I saw one of these
poor patient creatures felled, bleeding, to the earth, I
felt myself being worked up into a state of dangerous
nervous excitement, and I longed to challenge the
brutal assailant as a murderous enemy. Each time,
however, I sternly compelled myself to restrain my

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 185

feelings. At length the spirit of unrest grew so strong
that I determined to try a short trip inland in a
direction I had never hitherto attempted, I intended
to cross the big ba}' in my dug-out, round Cape
Londonderry, and then go south among the beautiful
islands down past Admiralty Gulf, which I had pre-
viously explored during my residence on the Capo,
and where I had found food and water abundant;
numerous caves, with mural paintings ; quiet seas, and
gorgeous vegetation. Yamba willingly consented to
accompany me, and one day I set off on the sea once
more, my faithful wife by my side, carrying her net
full of odds and ends, and I with my bow and arrows,
tomahawk, and stiletto; the two latter carried in my
belt. I hoped to come across a ship down among the
islands, for my natives told me that several had passed
while I was away.

At length we started off in our dug-out, the sea
being perfectly calm — more particularly in the early
morning, when the tide was generally with us. After
several days' paddling we got into a narrow passage
between a long elevated island and the main, and from
there found our way into an inlet, at the head of
which- appeared masses of wild and rugged rocks.
These rocks were, in many places, decorated with a
number of crude but striking mural paintings, which
were protected from the weather. The drawings I
found represented men chiefly. My own contributions
consisted of life-size sketches of my wife, m3'self,
and Bruno. I emphasised my long hair, and also
reproduced my bow and arrow. This queer " art
gallery" was well lighted, and the rock smooth. We
found the spot a very suitable one for camping ;

I 86 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

in fact, there were indications on all sides that the
place was frequently used by the natives as a camping-
ground. A considerable quantity of bark lay strewn
about the ground in sheets, which material my wife
told me was used by the natives as bedding. This
was the first time I had known the black-fellows to use
any material in this way. I also came across traces
of a feast — such as empty oyster shells in very large
heaps, bones of animals, &c. The waters of the inlet
wfere exceedingly well stocked with fish ; and here I
saw large crayfish for the first time. I caught and
roasted some, and found them very good eating. This
inlet might possibly be in the vicinity of Montague
Sound, a little to the south of Admiralty Gulf.

We stayed a couple of days in this beautiful spot,
and then pushed down south again, always keeping
close under shelter of the islands on account of our
frail craft. The seas through which we paddled
were studded with innumerable islands, some rocky
and barren, others covered with magnificent foliage
and grass. We landed on several of these, and on
one — it might have been Bigges Island — I discovered
a high cairn or mound of stones erected on the most
prominent point. Yamba told me that this structure
was not the work of a native. She explained that
the stones were laid too regularly. A closer examina-
tion convinced me that the cairn had been built by
some European — possibly a castaway — and that at
one time it had probably been surmounted by a flag-
staff as a signal to passing ships. Food was very
plentiful on this island, roots and yams being obtain-
able in great abundance. Rock wallabies were also
plentiful. After leaving this island we continued our

PAINTINGS ON THE ROCKS

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES 189

journey south, paddling only during the day, and
always with the tide, and spending the night on land.
By the way, whilst among the islands, I came across,
at various times, many sad signs of civilisation, in
the form of a lower mast of a ship, and a deck-
house, a wicker - basket, empty brandy cases, and
other flotsam and jetsam, which, I supposed, had come
from various wrecks. After having been absent from
my home in Cambridge Gulf, two or three months, I
found myself in a large bay, which I now know to be
King's Sound. I had come across many tribes of
natives on my way down. Some I met were on the
islands on which we landed, and others on the main-
land. Most of these black-fellows knew me both per-
sonally and by repute, many having been present at
the great whale feast. The natives at King's Sound
recognised me, and gave me a hearty invitation to stay
with them at their camp. This I consented to do, and
my friends then promised to set all the other tribes
along the coast on the look-out for passing vessels,
so that I might immediately be informed by smoke-
signals when one was in sight. Not long after this
came an item of news which thrilled me through and
through.

One of the chiefs told me quite casually that at
another tribe, some days' journey away, the chief had
TWO WHITE WIVES. They had, he went on to explain,
a skin and hair exactly like my own ; but in spite of
even this assurance, after the first shock of amazement
I felt confident that the captives were Malays. The
news of their presence among the tribe in question
was a well-known fact all along the coast of King's
Sound. My informant had never actually seen the

I go DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

white women, but he was absolutely certain of their
existence. He added that the captives had been
seized after a fight with some white men, who had
come to that coast in a "big catamaran." .However,
I decided to go and see for myself what manner of
women the}^ were. The canoe was beached well
above the reach of the tides at Cone Bay, and then,
accompanied by Yamba only, I set off overland on my
quest. The region of the encampment towards which
I now directed my steps lies between the Lennard
River and the Fitzroy. The exact spot, as near as I
can fix it on the chart, is a place called Derby, at the
head of King's Sound. As we advanced the country
became very rugged and broken, with numerous creeks
intersecting it in every direction. Farther on, however,
it developed into a rich, low-lying, park-like region,
with water in abundance. To the north-west appeared
elevated ranges. I came across many fine specimens
of the bottle tree. The blacks encamped at Derby
were aware of my coming visit, having had the news
forwarded to them by means of the universal smoke-
signals.

The camp described by my informant I found to be
a mere collection of gunyahs, or break-winds, made
of boughs, and I at once presented my " card " — the
ubiquite passport stick ; which never left me for a
moment in all my wanderings. This stick was sent
to the chief, who immediately manifested tokens of
friendship towards me.

Unfortunately, however, he spoke an entirely
different dialect from Yamba's ; but by means of the
sign language I explained to him that I wished to sta}'
with him for a few "sleeps" (hand held to the side of

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 191

the head, with fingers for numbers), and partake of his
hospitality. To this he readily consented.

Now, I knew enough of the customs of the blacks
to realise that, being a stranger among them, they
would on request provide me with additional wives
during my stay, — entirely as a matter of ceremonial
etiquette ; and it suddenly occurred to me that I might
make very good use of this custom by putting in an
immediate demand for the two white women — if they
existed. You see, I wanted an interview with them,
in the first place, to arrange the best means of getting
them away. I confess I was consumed with an intense
curiosity to learn their history — even to see them.
I wondered if they could tell me anything of the great
world now so remote in my mind. As a matter of
courtesy, however, I spent the greater part of the day
with the chief, for any man who manifests a desire
for women's society loses caste immediately ; and in
the evening, when the fact of my presence among the
tribe had become more extensively known, and their
curiosity aroused by the stories that Yamba had taken
care to circulate, I attended a great corroboree, which
lasted nearly the whole of the night. As I was sitting
near a big fire, joining in the chanting and festivities,
Yamba noiselessly stole to my side, and whispered in
my ear that she hadfomid the txvo white women.

I remember I trembled with excitement at the pro-
spect of meeting them. They were very young, Yamba
added, and spoke " my " language — I never said
" English," because this word would have conveyed
nothing to her; and she also told me that the prisoners
were in a dreadful state of misery. It was next ex-
plained to me that the girls, according to native custom,

192 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

were the absolute property of the chief. He was seated
not very far away from me, and was certainly one of
the most ferocious and repulsive-looking creatures I
have ever come across, — even among the blacks. He
was over six feet higli, and of rather a lighter com-
plexion than his fellows, — almost like a Malay. The
top of his head receded in a very curious manner,
whilst the mouth and lower part of the face generally
protruded like an alligator's, and gave him a truly
diabolical appearance. I confess a thrill of horror
passed through me, as I realised that two doubtless
tenderly reared English girls were in the clutches of
this monster. Once I thought I must have been
dreaming, and that the memories of some old story-
book I had read years ago were filling my mind with
some fantastic delusion. For a moment I pictured
to myself the feelings of their prosaic British relatives,
could they only have known what had become of the
long-lost loved ones — a fate more shocking and more
fearful than any ever conceived by the writer of fiction.
Of course, my readers will understand that much detail
about the fate of these poor creatures must be sup-
pressed for obvious reasons. But should any existing
relatives turn up, I shall be only too happy to place
at their disposal all the information I possess.

Presently, I grasped the whole terrible affair, and
realised it as absolute fact ! My first impulse was to
leap from the corroborec and go and reassure the un-
happy victims in person, telling them at the same time
that they might count on my assistance to the last. It
was not advisable, however, to withdraw suddenly
from the festivities, for fear my absence might arouse
suspicion.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF

193

The only alternative that presented itself was to
send a note or message of some kind to them, and so
I asked Yamba to bring me a large fleshy leaf of a
water-lily, and then, with one of her bone needles, I

AN ORIGINAL LETTER

pricked, in printed English characters, "A friend is
near; fear noty Handing this original letter to Yamba,
I instructed her to give it to the girls and tell them
to hold it up before the fire and read the perforations.
This done, I returned to the corroboree, still displaying a

194 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

feigned enthusiasm for the proceedings, but determined
upon a bold and resolute course of action. I must
say though, that at that particular moment I was
not very sanguine of getting the girls away out of
the power of this savage, who had doubtless won
them from some of his fellows by more or less fair
fighting.

I made my way over to where the chief was
squatting, and gazed at him long and steadily. I
remember his appearance as though it were but yes-
terday that we met. I think I have already said he
was the most repulsive-looking savage I have ever
come across, even among the Australian blacks. The
curious raised scars were upon this particular chief
both large and numerous. This curious form of
decoration, by the way, is a very painful business.
The general practice is to make transverse cuts with
a sharp shell, or stone knife, on the chest, thighs, and
sometimes on the back and shoulders. Ashes and
earth are then rubbed into each cut, and the wound is
left to close. Next comes an extremely painful gather-
ing and swelling, and a little later the earth that is
inside is gradually removed — sometimes with a feather.
When the wounds finally heal up, each cicatrice stands
out like a raised weal, and of these extraordinary
marks the blacks are inordinately proud.

But to return to the chief who owned the girls. I
must say that, apart from his awful and obviously
stubborn face, he was a magnificently formed savage.

I commenced the conversation with him by saying,
I presumed the usual courtesy of providing a wife
would be extended to me during my stay. As I
anticipated, he readily acquiesced, and I instantly

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 195

followed up the concession by calmly remarking that I
should like to have the two white women who were in
the camp sent over to my " little place." To this
suggestion he gave a point-blank refusal. I persisted,
however, and taunted him with deliberately breaking
the inviolable rules of courtesy ; and at length he gave
me to understand he would think the matter over.

All this time Yamba had been as busy as a showman
out West. She had followed with unusual vigour
her customary role of " advance agent," and had spread
most ridiculously exaggerated reports of my super-
natural prowess and magical attributes. I controlled
the denizens of Spiritland, and could call them up in
thousands to torment the blacks. I controlled the
elements ; and was in short all-powerful.

I must admit that this energetic and systematic
" puffing " did a great deal of good, and wherever we
went I was looked upon as a sort of wizard, entitled
to very great respect, and the best of everything that
was going.

For a long time the tribal chief persisted in his
opposition to my request for the girls; but as most
of his warriors were in my favour (I had given many
appalling demonstrations in the bush at night), I knew
he would submit sooner or later. The big corroboree
lasted all night, and at length, before we separated on
the second day, the great man gave way — with exceed-
ingly bad grace. Of course, I did not disturb the girls
at that hour, but next day I told Yamba to go and see
them and arrange for an interview. She came back
pretty soon, and then undertook to guide me to their
** abode." The prospect of meeting white people once
more — even these two poor unfortunates — threw me

196 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

into a strange excitement, in the midst of which I
quite forgot my own astonishing appearance, which was
far more like that of a gaily decorated and gorgeously
painted native chief than a civilised European. For
it must be remembered that by this time I had long
ago discarded all clothing, except an apron of emu
feathers, whilst my skin was extremely dark and my
hair hung down my back fully three feet, and was
built up in a surprising way in times of war and corro-
boree.

I followed Yamba through the camp, getting more
and more excited as we approached the girls' domi-
cile. At length she stopped at the back of a crescent-
shaped break -wind of boughs, and a moment later —
eager, trembling, and almost speechless — I stood
before the two English girls. Looking back now, I
remember they presented a truly pitiable spectacle.
They were huddled together on the sandy ground,
naked, and locked in one another's arms. Before
them burned a fire, which was tended by the women.
Both looked frightfully emaciated and terrified — so
much so, that as I write these words my heart beats
faster with horror as I recall the terrible impression
they made upon me. As they caught sight of me,
they screamed aloud in terror. L retired a little way
discomfited, remembering suddenly my own fantastic
appearance. Of course, they thought I was another
black fellow coming to torture them. All kinds of ex-
traordinary reflections flashed through my mind at
that moment. What would people in my beloved
France, I wondered — or among my Swiss mountains,
or in stately England — think of the fate that had over-
taken these girls — a fate that would infallibly read

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 197

more like extravagant and even offensive fiction than
real, heart-rending fact ?

I went back and stood before the girls, saying,
reassuringly, " Ladies, I am a white man and a friend ;
and if you will only trust in me I think I can save
you."

Their amazement at this little speech knew no
bounds, and one of the girls became quite hysterical.
I called Yamba, and introduced her as my wife, and
they then came forward and clasped me by the hand,
crying, shudderingly, "Oh, save us! Take us away
from that fearful brute."

I hastily explained to them that it was solely because
I had resolved to save them that I had ventured into
the camp ; but they would have to wait patiently until
circumstances favoured my plans for their escape. I
did not conceal from them that my being able to take
them away at all was extremely problematical; for I
could see that to have raised false hopes would have
ended in real disaster. Gradually they became quieter
and more reasonable — and my position obviously more
embarrassing. I quickly told them that, at any rate,
so long as I remained in the camp, they need not fear
any further visits from the giant chief they dreaded so
much, and with this reassurance I walked swiftly
away, followed by Yamba.

The laws of native hospitality absolutely forbade
any one to interfere with the girls during my stay, so,
easy in my mind, I made straight for the extensive
swamps which I knew lay a few miles from the camp.
In tliis wild and picturesque place I brought down,
with Yamba's assistance, a great number of cockatoos,
turkeys, and other wild fowl, which birds were promptly

198 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

skinned, my wife and I having in view a little amateur
tailoring which should render my future interviews with
the girls a little less embarrassing. As a matter of fact,
I handed over the bird-skins to Yamba, and she, with
her bone needles and threads of kangaroo sinews, soon
made a couple of extraordinary but most serviceable
garments, which we immediately took back to the poor
girls, who were shivering with cold and neglect. I at
once saw the reason of most of their suffering.

Their own clothing had apparently been lost or
destroyed, and the native women, jealous of the atten-
tion which the chief was bestowing upon the new-
comers, gave them little or no food. Nor did the
jealous wives instruct the interlopers in the anointing
of their bodies with that peculiar kind of clay which
forms so effective a protection alike against the burn-
ing heat of the sun, the treacherous cold of the night-
winds, and the painful attacks of insects. All the
information I could elicit from the girls that evening
was the fact that they had been shipwrecked, and had
already been captive among the blacks for three and
a half months. The elder girl further said that they
were not allowed their liberty, because they had on
several occasions tried to put an end to their indescrib-
able sufferings by committing suicide. Anything more
extraordinary than the costumes we made for the girls
you never saw. They were not of elaborate design,
being of the shape of a long sack, with holes for the
arms and neck ; and they afterwards shrank in the
most absurd way.

CHAPTER X

Miss Rogers begins her story — An interview on the high seas— Drift-
ing to destruction — The ship disappears — Tortured by thirst — A
fearful sight — Cannibals on the watch — The blacks quarrel over
the girls — Courting starvation — Yamba goes for help — A startling
announcement — Preparations for the fight — Anxious moments —
A weird situation — "Victory, victory " — A melodramatic attitude —
The girls get sore feet.

AT our next interview, thanks to Yamba's good offices,
/V both girls were looking very much better than
when I first saw them ; and then, consumed with
natural curiosity and a great desire to learn something
of the outside world, I begged them to tell me their
story.

The first thing I learnt was that they were two
sisters, named Blanche and Gladys Rogers, their
respective ages being nineteen and seventeen years.
Both girls were extremely pretty, the particular attrac-
tion about Gladys being her lovely violet eyes. It
was Blanche who, with much hysterical emotion, told
me the story of their painful experience, Gladys occa-
sionally prompting her sister with a few interpolated
words.

Here, then, is Blanche Rogers's story, told as nearly
as possible in her own words. Of course it is absurd
to suppose that I can reproduce verbatim the fearful
story told by the qnfortunate girl.

200 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

"My sister and I are the daughters of Captain Rogers,
who commanded a 700-ton barque owned by our uncle."
[I am not absolutely certain whether the girls were the
daughters of the captain or the owner. — L. de R.]
"We were always very anxious, even as children, to
accompany our dear father on one of his long trips,
and at length we induced him to take us with him
when he set sail from Sunderland [not certain, this]
in the year 1868 [or 1869], with a miscellaneous cargo
bound for Batavia [or Singapore]. The voyage out
was a very pleasant one, but practically without
incident — although, of course, full of interest to us.
The ship delivered her freight in due course, but our
father failed to obtain a return cargo to take back with
him to England. Now, as a cargo of some kind was
necessary to clear the expenses of the voyage, father
decided to make for Port Louis, in Mauritius, to see
what he could do among the sugar-exporters there.

" On the way to Port Louis, we suddenly sighted a
ship flying signals of distress. We at once hove to
and asked what assistance we could render. A boat
presently put off from the distressed vessel, and the
captain, who came aboard, explained that he had run
short of provisions and wanted a fresh supply — no
matter how small — to tide him over his difficulty. He
further stated that his vessel was laden with guano,
and was also en route for Port Louis. The two captains
had a long conversation together, in the course of which
an arrangement was arrived at between them.

" We said we were in ballast, searching for freight,
whereupon our visitor said: *Wl?y don't you make
for the Lacepede Islands, off the north-west Australian
coast, and load guano, which you can get there for

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 201

nothing ? ' We said we did not possess the necessary
requisites in the shape of shovels, sacks, punts, wheel-
barrows, and the like. These were promptly supplied
by the other captain in part payment for the provisions
we let him have. Thus things were eventually
arranged to the entire satisfaction of both parties, and
then the Alexandria (I think that was the name of the
ship) proceeded on her way to Port Louis, whilst we
directed our course to the Lacepede Islands.

" In due time we reached a guano islet, and the crew
quickly got to work, with the result that in a very short
time we had a substantial cargo on board. A day or
two before we were due to leave, we went to father
and told him we wanted very much to spend an evening
on the island to visit the turtle-breeding ground.
Poor father, indulgent always, allowed us to go ashore
in a boat, under the care of eight men, who were to do
a little clearing-up whilst they were waiting for us.
We found, as you may suppose, a great deal to interest
us on the island, and the time passed all too quickly.
The big turtles came up with the full tide, and at
once made nests for themselves on the beach by
scraping out with their hind-flippers a hole about ten
inches deep and five inches in diameter. The creatures
then simply lay over these holes and dropped their
eggs into them. We learned that the number of eggs
laid at one sitting varies from twelve up to forty. We
had great fun in collecting the eggs and generally play-
ing with the turtles. I am afraid we got out of sight
of the men, and did not notice that the weather showed
decided signs of a Sudden change. When at length the
crew found us it was past midnight — though not very
dark ; and though we ought to have been making pre-

202 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

parations for returning to the ship, it was blowing hard.
On account of this, the crew said they did not consider
it advisable to launch the boat ; and as we had our big
cloaks with us, it was decided to remain on the island
all night to see if the weather improved by the morning.
Our ship was anchored fully three miles away, outside
the reefs, and it would have been impossible, in the sea
that was running, to pull out to her. There was only
one white man among our protectors, and he was a
Scotchman. The men made a fire in a more or less
sheltered spot, and round this we squatted, the men
outside us, so as to afford us greater protection from
the storm.

" In this way the whole night passed, principally in
telling stories of adventure by sea and land. We all
hoped that by morning at any rate the wind would
have abated ; but at daybreak, as we looked anxiously
out over the tempestuous sea, it was blowing as hard
as ever ; and by ten o'clock the storm had increased to
a terrific gale. Our men unanimously declared they
dared not attempt to reach the ship in their small boat,
although we could see the vessel plainly riding at her
old anchorage. What followed Gladys and I gathered
afterwards, just before the dreadful thing happened.
We were all safe enough on land, but it became evident
to the sailors with us that the ship could not weather
the storm unless she weighed anchor and stood out to
sea. The crew watched with eager eyes to see what
my father would do. Manifestly he was in too much
distress of mind about us to go right away, and I
suppose he preferred to trust to the strength of his
cables.

" Shortly after ten o'clock in the morning, however,

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 203

the ship began to drag her anchors, and in spite of all
that could be done by my father and his officers, the
shapely little vessel gradually drifted on to the coral
reefs. All this time Gladys and I, quite ignorant of
seamanship and everything pertaining to it, were watch-
ing the doomed ship, and from time to time asked
anxiously what was the meaning of all the excitement.
The men returned us evasive answers, like the kind-
hearted fellows they were, and cheered us up in
every possible way. Presently we heard signals of
distress (only we didn't know they were signals of
distress then), and our companions saw that the
captain realised only too well his terribly dangerous
position. It was, however, utterly impossible for them
to have rendered him any assistance. The rain was
now descending in sheets, lashing the giant waves with
a curious hissing sound. The sky was gloomy and
overcast, and altogether the outlook was about as
terrible as it could well be. Presently we became
dreadfully anxious about our father ; but when the
sailors saw that the ship was apparently going to pieces,
they induced us to return to the camp fire and sit there
till the end was past. By this time the barque was
being helplessly buffeted about amongst the reefs, a
little less than a mile and a half from shore.

" Suddenly, as we afterwards learnt, she gave a lurch
and completely disappeared beneath the turbulent
waters, without even her mastheads being left standing
to show where she had gone down. She had evidently
torn a huge hole in her side in one of her collisions
with the jagged reefs, for she sank with such rapidity
that not one of the boats could be launched, and not
a single member of the crew escaped — so far as we

204 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

knew — save only those who were with us on the island.
The loss of the ship was, of course, a terrible blow
to our valiant protectors, who were now left absolutely
dependent on their own resources to provide food and
means of escape. Thus passed a dreadful day and
night, the men always keeping us ignorant of what
had happened. They resolved to make for Port
Darwin, on the mainland of Australia, which was
believed to be quite near ; for we had no water, there
being none on the guano island. The interval was
spent in collecting turtles' eggs and sea-fowl, which
were intended as provisions for the journey. Next
morning the storm had quite abated, and gradually
the stupefying news was communicated to us that our
father and his ship had gone down with all hands in
the night. Indeed, these kind and gentle men told
us the whole story of their hopes and doubts and fears,
together with every detail of the terrible tragedy of
the sea that had left us in such a fearful situation.
No one needs to be told our feelings.

" Shortly before noon next day the sail was hoisted ;
we took our places in the boat, and soon were rippling
pleasantly through the now placid waters, leaving the
guano island far behind. The wind being in our favour,
very satisfactory progress was made for many hours ;
but at length, tortured by thirst, it was decided to land
on the mainland or the first island we sighted, and lay
in a stock of water — if it was obtainable. Gladys and
I welcomed the idea of landing, because by this time
we were in quite a disreputable condition, not having
washed for several days. It was our intention, while
the crews were getting water and food, to retire to the
other side of the island, behind the rocks, and there

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 205

have a nice bath. The boat was safely beached, and
there being no signs of natives anywhere in the vicinity,
the men soon laid in a stock of water without troubling
to go very far inland for it. My sister and I at once
retired several hundred yards away, and there un-
dressed and went into the water.

" We had scarcely waded out past our waists when,
to our unspeakable horror, a crowd of naked blacks,
hideously painted and armed with spears, came rush-
ing down the cliffs towards us, yelling and whooping
in a way I am never likely to forget. They seemed to
rise out of the very rocks themselves ; and I reallj'
think we imagined we were going mad, and that the
whole appalling vision was a fearful dream, induced by
the dreadful state of our nerves. My own heart seemed
to stand still with terror, and the only description I
can give of my sensations was that I felt absolutely
paralysed. At length, when the yelling monsters were
quite close to us, we realised the actual horror of it all,
and screaming frantically, tried to dash out of the
water towards the spot where we had left our clothes.
But some of the blacks intercepted us, and we saw one
man deliberately making off with the whole of our
wearing apparel.

'* Of course, when the boat's crew heard the uproar
they rushed to our assistance, but when they were
about twenty yards from our assailants, the blacks
sent a volley of spears among them with such amazing
effect that every one of the sailors fell prostrate to
the earth. The aim of the blacks was wonderfully
accurate.

" Some of our men, however, managed to struggle to
their feet again, in a heroic but vain endeavour to

2o6 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

reach our side; but these poor fellows were at once
butchered in the most shocking manner by the natives,

SHE GAVE A LURCH AND COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED

who wielded their big waddies or clubs with the most
sickening effect. Indeed, so heart-rending and horrible
was the tragedy enacted before our eyes, that for a

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 207

long time afterwards we scarcely knew what was
happening to us, so dazed with horror were we. For
myself, I have a faint recollection of being dragged
across the island by the natives, headed by the hideous
and gigantic chief who afterwards claimed us as his
'wives.' We were next put on board a large cata-
maran, our hands and feet having been previously tied
with hair cords ; and we were then rowed over to the
mainland, which was only a few miles away. We kept
on asking by signs that our clothing might be returned
to us, but the blacks tore the various garments into
long strips before our eyes, and wrapped the rags
about their heads by way of ornament. We reached
the encampment of the black-fellows late that same
evening, and were at once handed over to the charge
of the women, who kept us close prisoners and — so far
as we could judge — abused us in the most violent
manner. Of course, I don't know exactly what their
language meant, but I do know that they treated us
shamefully, and struck us from time to time. I
gathered that they were jealous of the attention shown
to us by the big chief.

"We afterwards learnt that the island on which the
terrible tragedy took place was not really inhabited,
but the blacks on the coast had, it appeared, seen our
boat far out at sea, and watched it until we landed
for water. They waited a little while in order to lull
the crew into a sense of fancied security, and then,
without another moment's delay, crossed over to the
island and descended upon us.

" We passed a most wretched night. Never — never
can I hope to describe our awful feelings. We suffered
intensely from the cold, being perfectly naked. We

2o8 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

were not, however, molested by any of our captors.
But horror was to be piled on horror's head, for the
next day a party of the blacks returned to the island
and brought back the dead bodies of all the murdered
sailors. At first we wondered why they went to this
trouble; and when, at length, it dawned upon us that
a great cannibal feast was in preparation, I think we
fainted away.

"We did not actually see the cooking operations, but
the odour of burning flesh was positively intolerable ;
and we saw women pass our little grass shelters carry-
ing some human arms and legs, which were doubtless
their own families' portions. I thought we should both
have gone mad, but notwithstanding this, we did keep
our reason. Our position, however, was so revolting
and so ghastly, that we tried to put an end to our lives
by strangling ourselves with a rope made of plaited
grass. But we were prevented from carrying out
our purpose by the women-folk, who thereafter kept
a strict watch over us. It seemed to me, so em-
barrassing were the attentions of the women, that
these pitiable but cruel creatures were warned by the
chief that, if anything befell us, they themselves would
get into dire trouble. All this time, I could not seem
to think or concentrate my mind on the events that had
happened. I acted mechanically, and I am absolutely
certain that neither Gladys nor myself realised our
appaUing position.

" In the meantime, it seems, a most sanguinary fight
had taken place among four of the principal blacks who
had assisted in the attack upon our sailors, the object
of the fight being to decide who should take posses-
sion of us.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 209

" One night we managed to slip out of the camp with-
out attracting the notice of the women, and at once
rushed down to the beach, intending to throw ourselves
into the water, and so end a life which was far worse
than death. We were, unfortunately, missed, and just
as we were getting beyond our depth a party of furious
blacks rushed down to the shore, waded out into the
water and brought as out.

"After this incident our liberty was curtailed alto-
gether, and we were moved away. The women were
plainly told — so we gathered — that if anything hap-
pened to us, death, and nothing less, would be their
portion. Now that we could no longer leave the little
break-wind that sheltered us, we spent the whole of
our time in prayer — mainly for death to release us
from our agonies. I was surprised to see that the
women themselves, though nude, were not much
affected by the intense cold that prevailed at times,
but we afterwards learnt that they anointed their
naked bodies with a kind of greasy clay, which formed
a complete coating all over their bodies. During the
ensuing three months the tribe constantly moved their
camp, and we were always taken about by our owner
and treated with the most shocking brutality. The
native food, which consisted of roots, kangaroo flesh,
snakes, caterpillars, and the like, was utterly loathsome
to us, and for several days we absolutely refused to
touch it, in the hope that we might die of starvation.

" Finally, however, the blacks compelled us to swallow
some mysterious-looking meat, under threats of torture
from those dreadful fire-sticks. You will not be sur-
prised to learn that, though life became an intolerable
burden to us, yet, for the most part, we obeyed our

2IO DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

captors submissively. At the same time, I ought to
tell you that now and again we disobeyed deliberately,
and did our best to lash the savages into a fury,
hoping that they would spear us or kill us with their
clubs. Our sole shelter was a break-wind of boughs
with a fire in front. The days passed agonisingly by ;
and when I tell you that every hour — nay, every
moment — was a crushing torture, you will understand
what that phrase means. We grew weaker and weaker,
and, I believe, more emaciated. We became delirious
and hysterical, and more and more insensible to the
cold and hunger. No doubt death would soon have
come to our relief had you not arrived in time to
save us."

This, then, was the fearful story which the unfortu-
nate Misses Rogers had to tell. The more I thought
it over, the more I realised that no Englishwomen
had ever lived to tell so dreadful an experience. I
compared their story with mine, and felt how different
it was. I was a man, and a power in the land from
the very first — treated with the greatest consideration
and respect by all the tribes. And, poor things, they
were terribly despondent when I explained to them
that it was impossible for me to take them right away
at once. Had I attempted to do so surreptitiously, I
should have outraged the sacred laws of hospitality,
and brought the whole tribe about my ears and theirs.
Besides, I had fixed upon a plan of my own ; and, as
the very fact of my presence in the camp was sufficient
protection for the girls, I implored them to wait
patiently and trust in me.

That very night I called Yamba to me and de-

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 211

spatched her to a friendly tribe we had encoun-
tered in the King Leopold Ranges — perhaps three
days' journey away. I instructed her to tell these
blacks that I was in great danger, and, therefore, stood
in need of a body of warriors, who ought to be sent
off immediately to my assistance. They knew me
much better than I did them. They had feasted on the
whale. As I concluded my message, I looked into
Yamba's eyes and told her the case was desperate.
Her dear eyes glowed in the firelight, and I saw that
she was determined to do or die. I trusted implicitly
in her fertility of resource and her extraordinary
intelligence.

In a few days she returned, and told me that
everything had been arranged, and a body of armed
warriors would presently arrive in the vicinity of the
camp, ready to place themselves absolutely at my
service.

And sure enough, a few days later twenty stalwart
warriors made their appearance at the spot indicated
by Yamba ; but as I did not consider the force quite
large enough for my purpose, I sent some of them
back with another message asking for reinforcements,
and saying that the great white chief was in danger.
Finally, when I felt pretty confident of my position,
I marched boldly forward into the camp with my
warriors, to the unbounded amazement of the whole
tribe with whose chief I was sojourning. He taxed
me with having deceived him when I said I was
alone, and he also accused me of outraging the laws of
hospitality by bringing a party of warriors, obviously
hostile, into his presence.

I wilfully ignored all these points, and calmly told

212 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

him I had been thinking over the way in which
he had acquired the two white girls, and had come
to the conclusion that he had no right to them at
all. Therefore, I continued airily, it was my inten-
tion to take them away forthwith. I pointed out to
the repulsive giant that he had not obtained the girls
by fair means, and if he objected to my taking them
away, it was open to him, according to custom, to
sustain his claim to ownership by fighting me for
the " property."

Now, these blacks are neither demonstrative nor
intelligent, but I think I never saw any human being
so astonished in the whole of my life. It dawned
upon him presently, however, that I was not joking,
and then his amazement gave place to the most
furious anger. He promptly accepted my challenge,
greatly to the delight of all the warriors in his own
tribe, with whom he was by no means popular. But,
of course, the anticipation of coming sport had some-
thing to do with their glee at the acceptance of the
challenge. The big man was as powerful in build
as he was ugly, and the moment he opened his mouth
I realised that for once Yamba had gone too far in
proclaiming my prodigious valour. He said he had
heard about my wonderful " flying-spears," and
declined to fight me if I used such preternatural
weapons. It was therefore arranged that we should
wrestle — the one who overthrew the other twice out
of three times to be declared the victor. I may say
that this was entirely my suggestion, as I had always
loved trick wrestling when at school, and even had a
special tutor for that purpose — M. Viginet, an agile
little Parisian, living in Geneva. He was a Crimean

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 213

veteran. The rank-and-file of the warriors, however,
did not look upon this suggestion with much favour,
as they thought it was not paying proper respect to
my wonderful powers. I assured them I was per-
fectly satisfied, and begged them to let the contest
proceed.

Then followed one of the most extraordinary com-
bats on record. Picture to yourself, if you can, the
agony of mind of poor little Blanche and Gladys
Rogers during the progress of the fight ; and also
imagine the painful anxiety with which I went in
to win.

A piece of ground about twenty feet square was
lightly marked out by the blacks with their waddies, and
the idea was that, to accomplish a throw, the wrestler
had to hurl his opponent clean outside the boundary.
We prepared for the combat by covering our bodies
with grease ; and I had my long hair securely tied
up into a kind of "chignon" at the back of my head.
My opponent was a far bigger man than myself,
but I felt pretty confident in my ability as a trick
wrestler, and did not fear meeting him. What I
did fear, however, was that he would dispute the
findings of the umpires if they were in my favour, in
which case there might be trouble. I had a shrewd
suspicion that the chief was something of a coward
at heart. He seemed nervous and anxious, and I
saw him talking eagerly with his principal supporter.
As for myself, I constantly dwelt upon the ghastly
plight of the two poor girls. I resolved that, with
God's help, I would vanquish my huge enemy and
rescue them from their dreadful position. I was in
splendid condition, with muscles like steel from in-

2 14 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

cessant walking. At length the warriors squatted
down upon the ground in the form of a crescent, the
chiefs in the foreground, and every detail of the
struggle that followed was observed with the keenest
interest.

I was anxious not to lose a single moment. I
felt that if I thought the matter over I might lose
heart, so I suddenly bounded into the arena. My
opponent was there already — looking, I must say,
a little undecided.

In a moment his huge arms were about my waist
and shoulders. It did not take me very long to find
out that the big chief was going to depend more
upon his weight than upon any technical skill in
wrestling. He possessed none. He first made a
great attempt to force me upon my knees and then
backwards ; but I wriggled out of his grasp, and
a few minutes later an opening presented itself for
trying the " cross-buttock " throw. There was not
a moment to be lost. Seizing the big man round
the thigh I drew him forward, pulled him over on
my back, and in the twinkling of an eye — certainly
before I myself had time to realise what had happened
— he was hurled right over my head outside the en-
closure. The spectators — sportsmen all — frantically
slapped their thighs, and I knew then that I had
gained their sympathies. My opponent, who had
alighted on his head and nearly broken his neck, rose
to his feet, looking dazed and furious that he should
have been so easily thrown. When he faced me for
the second time in the square he was much more
cautious, and we struggled silently, but forcefully, for
some minutes without either gaining any decided

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 215

advantage. Oddly enough, at the time I was not
struck by the dramatic element of the situation ; but
now that I have returned to civilisation I do see the
extraordinary nature of the combat as I look back
upon those dreadful days.

Just picture the scene for yourself The weird,
unexplored land stretches away on every side, though
one could not see much of it on account of the grassy
hillocks. I, a white man, was alone among the blacks
in the terrible land of "Never Never," — as the Aus-
tralians call their terra incognita; and I was wrestling
with a gigantic cannibal chief for the possession of
two delicately-reared English girls, who were in his
power. Scores of other savages squatted before us,
their repulsive faces aglow with interest and excite-
ment. Very fortunately Bruno was not on the
spot. I knew what he was of old, and how he
made my quarrels his with a strenuous energy and
eagerness that frequently got himself as well as his
master into serious trouble. Knowing this, I had
instructed Yamba to keep him carefully away, and
on no account let him run loose.

Fully aware that delays were dangerous, I gripped
my opponent once more and tried to throw him over
my back, but this time he was too wary, and broke
away from me. When we closed again he com-
menced his old tactics of trying to crush me to the
ground by sheer weight, but in this he was not suc-
cessful. Frankly, I knew his strength was much
greater than mine, and that the longer we wrestled
the less chance I would have. Therefore, forcing
him suddenly sideways, so that he stood on one leg,
I tripped him, hurling him violently from me side-

2i6 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

ways ; and his huge form went rolling outside the
square, to the accompaniment of delighted yells from
his own people.

I cannot describe my own sensations, for I believe
I was half mad with triumph and excitement. I
must not forget to mention that 1, too, fell to the
ground, but fortunately well within the square. I
was greatly astonished to behold the glee of the
spectators — but, then, the keynote of their character
is an intense love of deeds of prowess, especially such
deeds as provide exciting entertainment.

The vanquished chief sprang to his feet before I
did, and ere I could realise what was happening, he
dashed at me as I was rising and dealt me a terrible
blow in the mouth with his clenched fist. As he
was a magnificently muscular savage, the blow broke
several of my teeth and filled my mouth with blood.
My lips, too, were very badly cut, and altogether I
felt half stunned. The effect upon the audience was
astounding. The warriors leaped to their feet, highly
incensed at the cowardly act, and some of them would
actually have speared their chief then and there had
I not forestalled them. I was furiously angry, and
dexterously drawing my stiletto from its sheath so as
not to attract attention, I struck at my opponent with
all my force, burying the short, keen blade in his
heart. He fell dead at my feet with a low, gurgling
groan. As I withdrew the knife, I held it so that
the blade extended up my forearm and was quite
hidden. This, combined with the fact that the fatal
wound bled mainly internally, caused the natives to
believe I had struck my enemy dead by some super-
natural means. The act was inevitable.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF

217

You will observe that by this time I would seize
every opportunity of impressing the blacks by an
almost intuitive instinct ; and as the huge savage lay
dead on the ground, I placed my foot over the

A DEADLY COMBAT

wound, folded ni}- arms, and looked round trium-
phantly upon the enthusiastic crowd, like a gladiator
of old.

According to law and etiquette, however, the nearest

2i8 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

relatives of the dead man had a perfect right to
challenge me, but they did not do so, probably because
they were disgusted at the unfair act of my opponent.
I put the usual question, but no champion came
forward ; on the contrary, I was overwhelmed with
congratulations, and even offers of the chieftainship,
I am certain, so great was the love of fair-play among
these natives, that had I not killed the chief with
my stiletto, his own people would promptly have
speared him. The whole of this strange tragedy
passed with surprising swiftness ; and I may mention
here that, as I saw the chief rushing at me, I thought
he simply wanted to commence another round. His
death was actually an occasion for rejoicing in the
tribe. The festivities were quickly ended, however,
when I told the warriors that I intended leaving the
camp with the two girls in the course of another day
or so, to return to my friends in the King Leopold
Ranges. In reality it was my intention to make for
my own home in the Cambridge Gulf district. The
body of the chief was not eaten (most likely on account
of the cowardice he displayed), but it was disposed
of according to native rites. The corpse was first
of all half-roasted in front of a huge fire, and then,
when properly shrivelled, it was wrapped in bark
and laid on a kind of platform built in the fork of
a tree.

The girls were kept in ignorance of the fatal termi-
nation of the wrestling match, as I was afraid it
might give them an unnecessary shock. After twelve
or fourteen days in the camp, we quietly took our
departure. Our party consisted of the two girls,
who were nearly frantic with excitement over their

DISPOSING OF THE CHIEF

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES 221

escape ; Yamba, and myself — together with the
friendly warriors who had so opportunely come to
my assistance.

We had not gone far, however, before the girls
complained of sore feet. This was not surprising,
considering the burning hot sand and the rough
country we were traversing, which was quite the worst
I had yet seen — at any rate, for the first few days'
march after we got out of the level country in the
King's Sound region. I, therefore, had to rig up a
kind of hammock made of woven grass, and this,
slung between two poles, served to carry the girls by
turns, the natives acting as bearers. But being
totally unused to carrying anything but their own
weapons, they proved deplorably inefficient as porters,
and after a time, so intolerable to them did the labour
become, the work of carrying the girls devolved upon
Yamba and myself. Gladys, the younger girl, suffered
most, but both were weak and footsore and generally
incapable of much exertion. Perhaps a reaction had
set in after the terrible excitement of the previous
days. Soon our escort left us, to return to their own
homes ; and then Yamba and I had to work extremely
hard to get the girls over the terribly rough country.
Fortunately there was no need for hurry, and so we
proceeded in the most leisurely manner possible,
camping frequently and erecting grass shelters for
our delicate charges. Food was abundant, and the
natives friendly.

CHAPTER XI

Easier travel — The girls improve — How the blacks received them — A
large hut — A dainty dish — What might have been — The girls
decorate their home — Bruno as a performer — "A teacher of
swimming" — How we fought depression — Castles in the air— A
strange concert — Trapping wild-cats — The girls' terror of solitude
— Fervent prayer — A goose-skin football — How I made drums.

AT length we came to a stately stream that flowed
I~\ in a NNE. direction to Cambridge Gulf. This,
I believe, is the Ord River. Here we constructed a
catamaran, and were able to travel easily and luxu-
riously upon it, always spending the night ashore.
This catamaran was exceptionally large, and long
enough to admit of our standing upright on it with
perfect safety. After crossing the King Leopold
Ranges we struck a level country, covered with rich,
tall grass, and well though not thickly wooded. The
rough granite ranges, by the way, we found rich
in alluvial and reef tin. Gradually the girls grew
stronger and brighter. At this time they were, as
you know, clad in their strange " sack " garments of
bird-skins ; but even before we reached the Ord River
these began to shrink to such an extent that the
wearers were eventually wrapped as in a vice, and
were scarcely able to walk. Yamba then made some
make-shift garments out of opossum skins.

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES 223

As the girls' spirits rose higher and higher I was
assailed by other misgivings. I do not know quite
how the idea arose, but somehow they imagined that
their protector's home was a more or less civilised
settlement, with regular houses, furnished with pianos
and other appurtenances of civilised life ! So great
was their exuberance that I could not find it in my
heart to tell them that they were merely going among
my own friendly natives, whose admiration and affec-
tion for myself only differentiated them from the other
cannibal blacks of unknown Australia.

When first I saw these poor girls, in the glow of
the firelight, and in their rude shelter of boughs, they
looked like old women, so haggard and emaciated
were they ; but now, as the spacious catamaran glided
down the stately Ord, they gradually resumed their
youthful looks, and were very comely indeed. The
awful look of intolerable anguish that haunted their
faces had gone, and they laughed and chatted with
perfect freedom. They were like birds just set at
liberty. They loved Bruno from the very first ; and
he loved them. He showed his love, too, in a very
practical manner, by going hunting on his own account
and bringing home little ducks to his new mistresses.
Quite of his own accord, also, he would go through
his whole repertoire of tumbling tricks ; and whenever
the girls returned to camp from their little wander-
ings, with bare legs bleeding from the prickles, Bruno
would lick their wounds and manifest every token of
sympathy and affection.

Of course, after leaving the native encampment, it
was several weeks before we made the Ord River,
and then we glided down that fine stream for many

224 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

days, spearing fish in the little creeks, and generally
amusing ourselves, time being no object. I have, by
the way, seen enormous shoals of fish in this river —
mainly mullet — which can only be compared to the
vast swarms of salmon seen in the rivers of British
Columbia.

We came across many isolated hills on our way
to the river, and these delayed us very considerably,
because we had to go round them. Here, again,
there was an abundance of food, but the girls did
not take very kindly to the various meats, greatly
preferring the roots which Yamba collected. We
came upon fields of wild rice, which, apart from any
other consideration, lent great beauty to the land-
scape, covering the country with a pinkish-white
blossom. We forced ourselves to get used to the
rice, although it was very insipid without either salt
or sugar.

Sometimes, during our down-river journey, we
were obliged to camp for days and nights without
making any progress. This, however, was only after
the river became tidal and swept up against us.

When at length we would put off again in a home-
ward direction, I sang many little chansons to my fair
companions. The one that pleased them most, having
regard to our position, commenced —

" Filez, filez, mon beau navire,
Car la bonheur m'attend la bas."

Whenever the girls appeared to be brooding over
the terrible misfortunes they had undergone, I would
tell them my own story, which deeply affected them.
They would often weep with tender sympathy over

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 225

the series of catastrophes that had befallen me. They
sang to me, too — chiefly hymns, however — such as
" Rock of Ages," " Nearer, my God, to Thee," " There
is a Happy Land," and many others. We were con-
stantly meeting new tribes of natives, and for the most
part were very well received. Bruno, however, always
evinced an unconquerable aversion for the blacks. He
was ever kind to the children, though mostly in disgrace
with the men — until they knew him.

When at length we reached my own home in
Cambridge Gulf, the natives gave us a welcome so
warm that in some measure at least it mitigated the
girls' disappointment at the absence of civilisation.

You see, my people were delighted when they
saw me bringing home, as they thought, two white
wives ; " for now," they said, " the great white chief
will certainly remain among us for ever." There
were no wars going on just then, and so the whole
tribe gave themselves up to festivities.

The blacks were also delighted to see the girls,
though of course they did not condescend to greet
them, they being mere women, and therefore beneath
direct notice.

I ought to mention here, that long before we
reached my home we were constantly provided with
escorts of natives from the various tribes we met.
These people walked along the high banks or dis-
ported themselves in the water like amphibians,
greatly to the delight of the girls. We found
the banks of the Ord very thickly populated, and
frequently camped at night with different parties of
natives. Among these we actually came across some
I had fought against many months previously.

2 26 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

As we neared my home, some of our escort sent
up smoke-signals to announce our approach^ — the old
and wonderful " Morse code " of long puffs, short
puffs, spiral puffs, and the rest ; the variations being
produced by damping down the fire or fires with
green boughs. Yamba also sent up signals. The
result was that crowds of my own people came out
in their catamarans to meet us. My reception, in
fact, was like that accorded a successful Roman
General. Needless to say, there was a series of
huge corrohorees hdd in our honour. The first thing
I was told was that my hut had been burnt down in
my absence (fires are of quite common occurrence) ;
and so, for the first few days after our arrival, the
girls were housed in a temporary grass shelter, pend-
ing the construction of a substantial hut built of logs.
Now, as logs were very unusual building material,
a word of explanation is necessary.

The girls never conquered their fear of the blacks
— even my blacks ; and therefore, in order that they
might feel secure from night attack (a purely fanciful
idea, of course), I resolved to build a hut which should
be thoroughly spear-proof. Bark was also used ex-
tensively, and there was a thatch of grass. When
finished, our new residence consisted of three fair-
sized rooms — one for the girls to sleep in, one for
Yamba and myself, and a third as a general " living
room," — though, of course, we lived mainly en plein
air. I also arranged a kind of veranda in front of
the door, and here we frequently sat in the evening,
singing, chatting about distant friends ; the times that
were, and the times that were to be.

Let the truth be told. When these poor young

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 227

ladies came to my hut their faces expressed their
bitter disappointment, and we all wept together the
greater part of the night. Afterwards they said how
sorry they were thus to have given way ; and they
begged me not to think them ungrateful. However,
they soon resigned themselves to the inevitable,
buoyed up by the inexhaustible optimism of youth ;
and they settled down to live as comfortably as pos-
sible among the blacks until some fortuitous occurrence
should enable us all to leave these weird and remote
regions. The girls were in constant terror of being
left alone — of being stolen, in fact. They had been
told how the natives got wives by stealing them ;
and they would wake up in the dead of the night
screaming in the most heart-rending manner, with a
vague, nameless terror. Knowing that the ordinary
food must be repulsive to my new and delightful
companions, I went back to a certain island, where,
during my journey from the little sand-spit to the
main, I had hidden a quantity of corn beneath a
cairn.

This corn I now brought back to my Gulf home,
and planted for the use of 'the girls. They always
ate the corn green in the cob, with a kind of vegetable
" milk " that exudes from one of the palm-trees.
When they became a little more reconciled to their
new surroundings, they took a great interest in their
home, and would watch me for hours as I tried to
fashion rude tables and chairs and other articles of
furniture. Yamba acted as cook and waitress, but
after a time the work was more than she could cope
with unaided. You see, she had \.o find the food as
well as cook it. The girls, who were, of course,

228 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

looked upon as my wives by the tribe (this was their
greatest protection), knew nothing about root-hunting,
and therefore they did not attempt to accompany
Yaniba on her daily expeditions. I was in something

MAKING THE CHAIRS

of a dilemma. If I engaged other native women to
help Yamba, they also would be recognised as my
wives. Finally, I decided there was nothing left for
me but to acquire five more helpmates, who were of
the greatest assistance to Yamba.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 229

Of course, the constant topic of conversation was
our ultimate escape overland ; and to this end we
made little expeditions to test the girls' powers of
endurance. I suggested, during one of our conver-
sations, that we should either make for Port Essington,
or else go overland in search of Port Darwin ; but the
girls were averse to this, owing to their terror of the
natives.

Little did I dream, however, that at a place called
Cossack, on the coast of the North-West Division of
Western Australia, there was a settlement of pearl-
fishers ; so that, had I only known it, civilisation- —
more or less — was comparatively near. Cossack, it
appears, was the pearling rendezvous on the western
side of the continent, much as Somerset was on
the north-east, at the extremity of the Cape York
Peninsula.

My tongue or pen can never tell what those
young ladies were to me in my terrible exile. They
would recite passages from Sir Walter Scott's works
— the "Tales of a Grandfather" I remember in
particular ; and so excellent was their memory that
they were also able to give me many beautiful passages
from Byron and Shakespeare. I had always had a
great admiration for Shakespeare, and the girls and
myself would frequently act little scenes from "The
Tempest," as being the most appropriate to our cir-
cumstances. The girls' favourite play, however, was
" Pericles, Prince of Tyre." I took the part of the
King, and when I called for my robes Yamba would
bring some indescribable garments of emu skin, with
a gravity that was comical in the extreme. I, on
my part, recited passages from the French classics —

230 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

particularly the Fables of La Fontaine, in French ;
which language the girls knew fairly well.

And we had other amusements. I made some
fiddles out of that peculiar Australian wood which
splits into thin strips. The strings of the bow we
made out of my own hair ; whilst those for the instru-
ment itself were obtained from the dried intestines of
the native wild-cat.

We lined the hut with the bark of the paper-tree,
which had the appearance of a reddish-brown drapery.

The native women made us mats out of the wild
flax ; and the girls themselves decorated their room
daily with beautiful flowers, chiefly lilies. They also
busied themselves in making garments of various
kinds from opossum skins. They even made some
sort of costume for me, but I could not wear it on
account of the irritation it caused.

The natives would go miles to get fruit for the
girls — wild figs, and a kind of nut about the size of
a walnut, which, when ripe, was filled with a delicious
substance looking and tasting like raspberry jam.
There was also a queer kind of apple which grew
upon creepers in the sand, and of which we ate only
the outer part raw, cooking the large kernel which is
found inside. I do not know the scientific name of
any of these things.

I often asked the girls whether they had altogether
despaired in the clutches of the cannibal chief; and
they told me that although they often attempted to
take their own lives, yet they had intervals of bright
hope — so strong is the optimism of youth. My
apparition, they told me, seemed like a dream to
them.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 231

The natives, of course, were constantly moving
their camp from place to place, leaving us alone for
weeks at a time ; but we kept pretty stationary, and
were visited by other friendly tribes, whom we enter-
tained (in accordance with my consistent policy) with
songs, plays, recitations, and acrobatic performances.

In these latter Bruno took a great part, and
nothing delighted the blacks more than to see him
put his nose on the ground and go head over heels
time after time with great gravity and persistency.
But the effect of Bruno's many tricks faded into the
veriest insignificance beside that produced by his
bark. You must understand that the native dogs do
not bark at all, but simply give vent to a melancholy
howl, not unlike that of the hyena, I believe. Bruno's
bark, be it said, has even turned the tide of battle, for
he was always in the wars in the most literal sense of
the phrase. These things, combined with his great
abilities as a hunter, often prompted the blacks to put
in a demand that Bruno should be made over to
them altogether. Now, this request was both awk-
ward and inconvenient to answer ; but I got out of
it by telling them — since they believed in a curious
kind of metempsychosis — that Bruno was my brother,
whose soul and being he possessed ! His bark, I
pretended, was a perfectly intelligible language, and
this they believed the more readily when they saw
me speak to the dog and ask him to do various things,
such as fetching and carrying ; tumbling, walking on
his hind-legs, &c. &c. But even this argument did
not suffice to overcome the covetousness of some
tribes, and I was then obliged to assure them con-
fidentially that he was a relative of the Sun, and

232 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

therefore if I parted with him he would bring all
manner of most dreadful curses down upon his new
owner or owners. Whenever we went rambling I
had to keep Bruno as near me as possible, because
we sometimes came across natives whose first impulse,
not knowing that he was a dog, was to spear him.
Without doubt the many cross-breeds between Bruno
and the native dogs will yet be found by Australian
explorers.

Our hut was about three-quarters of a mile away
from the sea, and in the morning the very first thing
the girls and I did was to go down to the beach arm-
in-arm and have a delicious swim.

They very soon became expert swimmers, by the
way, under my tuition. Frequently I would go out
spearing and netting fish, my principal captures being
mullet. We nearly always had fish of some sort for
breakfast, including shell-fish ; and we would send the
women long distances for wild honey. Water was
the only liquid we drank at breakfast, and with it
Yamba served a very appetising dish of lily-buds and
roots. We used to steam the wild rice — which I
found growing almost everywhere, but never more
than two feet high — in primitive ovens, which were
merely adapted ants' nests. The material that formed
these nests, we utilised as flooring for our house.
We occasionally received quantities of wild figs from
the inland natives in exchange for shell and other
ornaments which they did not possess. I also dis-
covered a cereal very like barley, which I ground
up and made into cakes. The girls never attempted
to cook anything, there being no civilised appliances
of any kind. Food was never boiled.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 233

From all this you would gather that we were as
happy as civilised beings could possibly be under the
circumstances. Nevertheless — and my heart aches as
I recall those times — we had periodical fits of despond-
ency, which filled us with acute and intolerable agony.

These periods came with curious regularity almost
once a week. At such times I at once instituted sports,
such as swimming matches, races on the beach, swings,
and acrobatic performances on the horizontal bars.
Also Shakespearian plays, songs (the girls taught me
most of Moore's melodies), and recitations both grave
and gay. The fits of despondency were usually most
severe when we had been watching the everlasting
sea for hours, and had perhaps at last caught sight of
a distant sail without being able to attract the atten-
tion of those on board. The girls, too, suffered from
fits of nervous apprehension lest I should go away
from them for any length of time. They never had
complete confidence even in my friendly natives.
Naturally we were inseparable, we three. We went
for long rambles together, and daily inspected our
quaint little corn-garden. At first my charming
companions evinced the most embarrassing gratitude
for what I had done, but I earnestly begged of
them never even to mention the word to me. The
little I had done, I told them, was my bare and
obvious duty, and was no more than any other man,
worthy of the name, would have done.

In our more hopeful moments we would speak of
the future, and these poor girls would dwell upon the
thrill of excitement that would go all through the
civilised world, when their story and mine should
first be made known to the public.

234 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

For they felt certain their adventures were quite
unique in the annals of civilisation, and they loved to
think they would have an opportunity of " lionising "
me when we should return to Europe. They would
not hear me when I protested that such a course
would, frSm my point of view, be extremely un-
pleasant and undignified — even painful.

Every day we kept a good look-out for passing
ships ; and from twenty to forty catamarans were
always/stationed on the beach in readiness to take us
out to sea should there be any hope of a rescue. As
my knowledge of English was at this time not very
perfect, the girls took it upon themselves to improve
me, and I made rapid progress under their vivacious
tuition. They would promptly correct me in the
pronunciation of certain vowels when I read aloud
from the only book I possessed — the Anglo-French
Testament I have already mentioned. They were,
by the way, exceedingly interested in the records of
my daily life, sensations, &c., which I had written in
blood in the margins of my little Bible whilst on the
island in Timor Sea. About this time I tried to
make some ink, having quill pens in plenty from the
bodies of the wild geese ; but the experiment was
a failure.

Both girls, as I have already hinted, had wonderful
memories, and could recite numberless passages which
they had learnt at school. Blanche, the elder girl,
would give her sister and myself lessons in elocution ;
and I should like to say a word to teachers and
children on the enormous utility of committing some-
thing to memory — whether poems, songs, or passages
from historical or classical works. It is, of course.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 235

very unlikely that any one who reads these lines
will be cast away as we were, but still one never
knows what the future has in store ; and I have
known pioneers and prospectors who have ventured
into the remoter wilds, and emerged therefrom years
after, to give striking testimony as to the usefulness
of being able to sing or recite in a loud voice.

Sometimes we would have an improvised concert,
each of us singing whatever best suited the voice ;
or we would all join together in a rollicking glee.
One day, I remember, I started off with —

"A notre heureux sejour,"

but almost immediately I realised how ridiculously
inappropriate the words were. Still, I struggled on
through the first verse, but to my amazement, before
I could start the second, the girls joined in with
" God Save the Queen," which has exactly the same
air. The incident is one that should appeal to all
British people, including even her Most Gracious
Majesty herself. As the girls* voices rose, half
sobbingly, in the old familiar air, beloved of every
English-speaking person, tears fairly ran down their
fair but sad young faces, and I could not help being
struck with the pathos of the scene.

But all things considered, these were really happy
days for all of us, at any rate in comparison with
those we had previously experienced. We had by
this time quite an orchestra of reed flutes and the
fiddles aforesaid, whose strings were of gut procured
from the native wild-cat — a very little fellow, by the
way, about the size of a fair-sized rat ; I found him
everywhere. These cats were great thieves, and

236 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

only roamed about at night. I trapped them in
great numbers by means of an ingenious native
arrangement of pointed sticks of wood, which, while
providing an easy entrance, yet confronted the out-
going cat with a formidable chevaux-de-frise. The bait
I used was meat in an almost putrid condition,

I could not handle the prisoners in the morning,
because they scratched and bit quite savagely ; I
therefore forked them out with a spear. As regards
their own prey, they waged perpetual warfare against
the native rats. The skin of these cats was beauti-
fully soft, and altogether they were quite leopards in
miniature. Best of all, they made excellent eating,
the more so in that their flesh was almost the only
meat dish that had not the eternal flavour of the
eucalyptus leaf, which all our other "joints " possessed.
The girls never knew that they were eating cats, to
say nothing about rats. In order to save their feel-
ings, I told them that both " dishes " were squirrels !

My hair at this time was even longer than the
girls' own, so it is no wonder that it provided bows
for the fiddles. My companions took great delight
in dressing my absurdly long tresses, using combs
which I had made out of porcupines' quills.

Our contentment was a great source of joy to
Yamba, who was now fully convinced that I would
settle down among her people for ever.

The blacks were strangely affected by our singing.
Any kind of civilised music or singing was to them
anathema. What they liked best was the harsh
uproar made by pieces of wood beaten together, or
the weird jabbering and chanting that accompanied
a big feast. Our singing they likened to the

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF

237

howling of the dingoes ! They were sincere, hardly
complimentary.

DRESSING MY HAIR

Elsewhere I have alluded to the horror the girls
had of being left alone. Whenever I went off with
the men on a hunting expedition I left them in charge

238 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

of my other women-folk, who were thoroughly capable
of looking after them. I also persuaded the natives
to keep some distance away from our dwelling, parti-
cularly when they were about to hold a cannibal
feast, so that the girls were never shocked by such
a fearful sight. Certainly they had known of canni-
balism in their old camp, but I told them that my
own people were a superior race of natives, who were
not addicted to this loathsome practice.

Although we had long since lost count of the days,
we always set aside one day in every seven and re-
cognised it as Sunday, when we held a kind of service
in our spacious hut. Besides the girls, Yamba, and
myself, only our own women-folk were admitted,
because I was careful never to attempt to proselytise
any of the natives, or wean them from their ancient
beliefs. The girls were religious in the very best
sense of the term, and they knew the Old and New
Testaments almost by heart. They read the Lessons,
and I confess they taught me a good deal about
religion which I had not known previously. Blanche
would read aloud the most touching and beautiful
passages from the Bible ; and even as I write I
can recall her pale, earnest face, with its pathetic
expression and her low, musical voice, as she dwelt
upon passages likely to console and strengthen us
in our terrible position. The quiet little discussions
we had together on theological subjects settled, once
and for all, many questions that had previously vexed
me a great deal.

Both girls were devoted adherents of the Church
of England, and could repeat most of the Church
services entirely from memory. They wanted to do

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 239

a little missionary work among the blacks, but I gently
told them I thought this inadvisable, as any rupture
in our friendly relations with the natives would have
been quite fatal — if not to our lives, at least to our
chances of reaching civilisation. Moreover, my
people were not by any means without a kind of
religion of their own. They believed in the omnipo-
tence of a Great Spirit in whose hands their destinies
rested ; and him they worshipped with much the same
adoration which Christians give to God. The funda-
mental difference was that the sentiment animating
them was not love, hut /ear: propitiation rather than
adoration.

We sang the usual old hymns at our Sunday
services, and I soon learned to sing them myself.
On my part, I taught the girls such simple hymns as
the one commencing " Une nacelle en silence,^' which
I had learnt at Sunday-school in Switzerland. It is
interesting to note that this was Bruno's favourite
air. Poor Bruno ! he took more or less kindly to
all songs — except the Swiss jodellings, which he simply
detested. When I started one of these plaintive
ditties Bruno would first protest by barking his
loudest, and if I persisted, he would simply go away
in disgust to some place where he could not hear the
hated sounds. On Sunday evening we generally
held a prayer-service in the hut, and at such times
offered up most fervent supplications for delivery.

Often I have seen these poor girls lifting up their
whole souls in prayer, quite oblivious for the moment
of their surroundings, until recalled to a sense of their
awful positions by the crash of an unusually large
wave on the rocks.

240 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

The girls knew no more of Australian geography
than I did ; and when I mention that I merely had
a vague idea that the great cities of the continent-
Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, and Melbourne — all lay in
a southerly direction, you may imagine how dense
was my ignorance of the great island, I am now the
strongest possible advocate of a sound geographical
training in schools.

On ordinary days we indulged in a variety of
games, the principal one being a form of " rounders."
I made a ball out of opossum skin, stuffed with the
light soft bark of the paper-tree, and stitched with
gut. We used a yam-stick to strike it with. My
native women attendants often joined in the fun, and
our antics provided a vast amount of amusement for
the rest of the tribe. The girls taught me cricket,
and in due time I tried to induce the blacks to play
the British national game, but with little success.
We made the necessary bats and stumps out of hard
acacia, which I cut down with my tomahawk. The
natives themselves, however, made bats much better
than mine, simply by whittling flat their waddies ;
and they soon became expert batsmen. But unfor-
tunately they failed to see why they should run after
the ball, especially when they had knocked it a very
great distance away. Running about in this manner,
they said, was only fit work for women, and was
quite beneath their dignity. Yamba and I fielded,
but soon found ourselves unequal to the task, owing
to the enormous distances we had to travel in search
of the ball. Therefore we soon abandoned the
cricket, and took up football, which was very much
more successful.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 241

We had a nice large football made of soft goose-
skin stuffed with the paper bark ; and in considering
our game you must always bear in mind that boots
or footgear of any kind were quite unknown. The
great drawback of football, from the native point of
view, was that it entailed so much exertion, which
could be otherwise expended in a far more profitable
and practical manner. They argued that if they put
the exertion requisite for a game of football into a
hunt for food, they would have enough meat to last
them for many days. It was, of course, utterly im-
possible to bring them round to my view of sports
and games. With regard to the abandoned cricket,
they delighted in hitting the ball and in catching it
— oh 1 they were wonderfully expert at this — but as
to running after the ball, this was quite impossible.

About this time the girls showed me the steps of
an Irish jig, which I quickly picked up and soon
became quite an adept, much to the delight of the
natives, who never tired of watching my gyrations.
I kept them in a constant state of wonderment, so
that even my very hair — now about three feet long —
commanded their respect and admiration !

Sometimes I would waltz with the younger girl,
whilst her sister whistled an old familiar air. When
I danced, the blacks would squat in a huge circle
around me; those in the front rank keeping time by
beating drums that I had made and'' presented to
them. The bodies of the drums were made from
sections of trees which I found already hollowed out
by the ants. These wonderful little insects would bore
through and through the core of the trunk, leaving only
the outer shell, which soon became light and dry.

242 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

I then scraped out with my tomahawk any of the
rough inner part that remained, and stretched over
the ends of each section a pair of the thinnest wallaby
skins I could find ; these skins were held taut by
sinews from the tail of a kangaroo. I tried emu-
skins for the drum-heads, but found they were no
good, as they soon became perforated when I scraped
them.

Never a day passed but we eagerly scanned the
glistening sea in the hope of sighting a passing sail.
One vessel actually came right into our bay from the
north, but she suddenly turned right back on the
course she had come. She was a cutter-rigged vessel,
painted a greyish-white, and of about fifty tons
burden. She was probably a Government vessel —
possibly the Claud Hamilton, a South Australian
revenue boat stationed at Port Darwin — as she
flew the British ensign at the mast-head ; whereas a
pearler would have flown it at the peak. The moment
we caught sight of that ship I am afraid we lost our
heads. We screamed aloud with excitement, and ran
like mad people up and down the beach, waving
branches and yelling like maniacs. I even waved
wildly my long, luxuriant hair. Unfortunately, the
wind was against us, blowing from the WSW.
We were assisted in our frantic demonstration by
quite a crowd of natives with branches ; and I think
it possible that, even if we had been seen, the people
on the ship would have mistaken our efforts for a more
hostile demonstration.

When it was too late, and the ship almost out of
sight, I suddenly realised that I had made another
fatal mistake in having the blacks with me. Had I

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 243

and the two girls been alone on the beach I feel sure
the officers of the ship would have detected our white
skins through their glasses. But, indeed, we may well
have escaped notice altogether.

There was a terrible scene when the supposed
Government vessel turned back on her course and
passed swiftly out of sight. The girls threw them-
selves face downwards on the beach, and wept wildly
and hysterically in the very depths of violent despair.
I can never hope to tell you what a bitter and
agonising experience it was — the abrupt change from
delirious excitement at seeing a ship steering right
into our bay, to the despairing shock of beholding it
turn away from us even quicker than it came.

CHAPTER XII

The girls in sun-bonnets — I advise the blacks^Fatal excitement — Last
moments — The catastrophe — I cannot realise it — A fearful contrast
— " Only a withered flower " — Bruno's grief — Steering by the ant-
hills— Avoiding the forests — Myriads of rats — The flowing of the
tide — Rats and the native children — Clouds of locusts — Fish from
the clouds.

THE weeks gradually grew into months, and still
we were apparently no nearer civilisation than ever.
Again and again we made expeditions to see whether
it were possible for the girls to reach Port Darwin
overland ; but, unfortunately, I had painted for them
in such vivid colours the tortures of thirst which I had
undergone on my journey towards Cape York, that
they were always afraid to leave what was now their
home to go forth unprovided into the unknown. Some-
times a fit of depression so acute would come over
them, that they would shut themselves up in their
room and not show themselves for a whole day.

. We had a very plentiful supply of food, but one
thing the girls missed very much was milk, — which of
course, was an unheard-of luxury in these regions.
We had a fairly good substitute, however, in a certain
creamy and bitter-tasting juice which we obtained from
a palm-tree. This "milk," when we got used to it,
we found excellent when used with the green corn.
The corn-patch was carefully fenced in from kangaroos,

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES 245

and otherwise taken care of; and I may here remark
that I made forks and plates of wood for my fair
companions, and also built them a proper elevated bed,
with fragrant eucalyptus leaves and grass for bedding.
For the cold nights there was a covering of skin rugs,
with an overall quilt made from the wild flax.

FASHIONABLE COSTUMES

The girls made themselves sun-bonnets out of palm-
leaves ; while their most fashionable costume was com-
posed of the skins of birds and marsupials, cunningly
stitched together by Yamba. During the cold winter
months of July and August we camped at a more
sheltered spot, a little to the north, where there was
a range of mountains, whose principal peak was shaped
like a sugar-loaf.

246 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

I frequently accompanied the warriors on their
fighting expeditions, but did not use my stilts, mainly
because we never again met so powerful an enemy
as we had battled with on that memorable occasion,
My people were often victorious, but once or twice we
got beaten by reason of the other side having drawn
first blood. My natives took their reverses with a
very good grace, and were never very depressed or
inclined to view me with less favour because of their
want of success. We were always the best of friends,
and I even ventured gradually to wean them from
cannibalism.

I knew they ate human flesh, not because they felt
hungry, but because they hoped to acquire the ad-
ditional valour of the warrior they were eating. I
therefore diplomatically pointed out to them that, in
the first place, all kinds of dreadful diseases which
the dead man might have had would certainly be
communicated to them, and in this I was providentially
borne out by a strange epidemic. The second con-
sideration I mentioned was that by making anklets,
bracelets, and other ornaments out of the dead braves'
hair, they could acquire for themselves in a much
more efficacious manner the valour and other estimable
qualities of the departed warrior.

Whilst I was on this subject I also advised them
strongly and impressively never wantonly to attack
white men, but rather to make friendly advances
towards them. I often wonder now whether explorers
who follow in my track will notice the absence of
cannibalism and the friendly overtures of the natives.

Two half painful, half merry years, passed by. We
had seen several ships passing out at sea, and on more

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 247

than one occasion Yamba and I, taught by previous
lessons, had jumped into our canoe and pulled for
many miles in the direction of the sail, leaving the
girls watching us eagerly from the shore. But it was
always useless, and we were compelled to return with-
out having accomplished our purpose ; we merely in-
flicted additional pain on ourselves.

I now come to what is possibly the most painful
episode of my career, and one which I find it impos-
sible to discuss, or write about, without very real pain.
Even at this distance of time I cannot recall that
tragic day without bitter tears coming into my eyes,
and being afflicted with a gnawing remorse which can
never completely die in my heart. Do not, I beg of
you, in considering my actions, ask me why I did not
do this, or that, or the other. In terrible crises I
believe we become almost mechanical, and are not
responsible for what we do. I have often thought
that, apart from our own volition, each set of nerves
and fibres in our being has a will of its own.

Well, one gloriously fine day we sighted a ship
going very slowly across the gulf, several miles away.
Would to God we had never seen her ! We were
thrown, as usual, into a perfect frenzy of wild excite-
ment, and the girls dashed here and there like people
possessed. Of course, I determined to intercept the
vessel if possible, and the girls at once expressed their
intention of coming with me. I attempted earnestly
to dissuade them from this, but they wept pitifully
and implored me to let them come. They were filled
with an ungovernable longing to get away — the same
longing, perhaps, that animates a caged bird who,
although well fed and kindly treated, soars away

248 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

without a moment's hesitation when an opportunity
occurs. Quite against my better judgment, I let them
come. Every second was precious and every argu-
ment futile. While Yamba was getting ready the
canoe I rushed from one group of natives to the other,
coaxing, promising, imploring. I pointed out to them
that they could propel their catamarans faster than I
could paddle my canoe ; and I promised them that if I
reached the ship I would send them presents from
the white man's land of tomahawks and knives ; gaily
coloured cloths and gorgeous jewellery. But they
were only too ready to help me without any of these
inducements ; and in an incredibly short time at least
twenty catamarans, each containing one or two men,
put off from the shore in my wake and made directly
towards the ship, whilst I struck off at a tangent so
as to head her off. I now see that without doubt we
must have presented a very formidable appearance to
the people on the vessel as we paddled over the sunlit
seas, racing one another, yelling, and gesticulating
like madmen. Of course, the people on board quite
naturally thought they were being attacked by a
savage flotilla. But in the excitement of the moment
I never gave this a thought. Had I only left my
faithful natives behind all might have been well.
Yamba and I kept the canoe well ahead, and we
reached the neighbourhood of the ship first.

As we approached, the excitement of the girls was
painful to witness. They could scarcely contain them-
selves for joy ; and as I forcibly prevented them from
standing up in the frail canoe, they contented them-
selves with frantically waving their hands and scream-
ing themselves hoarse.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 249

Nearing the vessel I was surprised to see the top-sail
being hoisted, but, strange to say, the crew kept
well out of sight. This was easy to do, considering
the spread of canvas. She was not a Malay vessel,
being decidedly of European rig. She was only a
small craft, of perhaps ten or fifteen tons, with one
mast carrying a main-sail and stay-sail, in addition to
the tofHsail that had been hoisted as we approached.
To us, however, she was a " ship." We were now
about one hundred and fifty yards away, and I sud-
denly leapt to my feet and coo-eed several times.
Still no one showed himself, and not a soul was visible
on board. My own joyful excitement speedily turned
to heart-sickness, alarm, and even terror. By this
time the flotilla of catamarans was close behind me;
and just as I was about to sit down and take to my
paddle again, so as to advance still closer to the vessel,
the loud report of a gun was heard ; and then — well,
what followed next is exceedingly difficult for me to
describe accurately. Whether I was wounded by the
shot, or whether the girls suddenly stood up, causing
me to lose my balance and fall on the side of the canoe
and cut my thigh, I do not know.

At any rate, I crashed heavily overboard in spite of
Yamba's desperate attempt to save me. The next
moment I had forgotten all about the ship, and was
only conscious of Yamba swimming close by my side,
and occasionally gripping my long hair when she
thought I was going under. We righted the canoe
and climbed in as quickly as we could. I think I was
dazed and incapable of any coherent thought. As I
collapsed in tlie bottom of the canoe, I suddenly
realised that Yamba and I were alone; and sitting

2 so DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

up, 1 gasped, "The girls, the girls! Where are they?
Oh, where are they ? We must save them ! "

Alas ! they had sunk beneath the smiling waves,
and they never rose again. True, they were expert
swimmers, but I suppose the terrible excitement,
followed by the sudden shock, was too much for them,
and as they sank for the first time they probably clung
to each other in the embrace of death. God knows
best. Perhaps it was better that He should take my
loved ones from me than that they should be dragged
through the terrible years that followed.

But for a long time I utterly refused to believe that
my darlings were lost — they were truly as sisters to
me ; and Yamba and I and the natives dived for them
time after time, searching the sea in every direction.
But at length, seeing that I was exhausted, Yamba
forcibly detained me, and told me that I myself would
inevitably drown if I went into the water again. The
wound in my thigh (I am uncertain to this day whether
it was the result of the gun-shot or mere collision with
the rough gunwale of the canoe) was bleeding freely ;
and as it was also pointed out to me that there
was a very strong and swift current at this spot, I
allowed myself to be taken away without any further
opposition.

I simply could not realise my bereavement. It
seemed too terrible and stunning to think, that when
God had provided me with these two charming com-
panions, who were all in all to me every moment of
my existence, as a consolation for the horrors I had
gone through — it seemed impossible, I say, that they
should be snatched from me just at the very moment
when salvation seemed within our reach. Every detail

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 251

of the incident passed before my mental vision, but I
could not grasp it — I could not seem to think it real.
I can never explain it. These poor girls were more to
me than loving sisters. They turned the black night
of my desolate existence into sunshine, and they were
perpetually devising some sweet little surprise — some
little thing which would please me and add additional
brightness to our daily lives. This dreadful thing
happened many years ago, but to this day, and to
the day of my death, I feel sure I shall suffer agonies
of grief and remorse (I blame myself for not having
forbidden them to go in the canoe) for this terrible
catastrophe.

After we returned to the land, I haunted the sea-
shore for hours, hoping to see the bodies rise to the
surface ; but I watched in vain. When at length the
full magnitude of the disaster dawned upon me, despair
— the utter abandonment of despair — filled my soul for
the first time. Never again would my sweet com-
panions cheer my solitary moments. Never again
would I see their loved forms, or hear their low,
musical voices. Never again would we play together
like children on the sand. Never again would we
build aerial castles about the bright and happy future
that was in store for us, looking back from the bourne
of civilisation on our fantastic adventures. Never again
should we compare our lot with that of Robinson
Crusoe or the Swiss Family Robinson.

My bright dream had passed away, and with a
sudden revulsion of feeling I realised that the people
around me were repulsive cannibals, among whom I
was apparently doomed to pass the remainder of my
hideous days — a fate infinitely more terrible than that

252 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

of joining my darlings beneath the restless waves, that
beat for ever on that lonely shore. I was a long
time before I could even bring myself to be thankful

I HAUNTED THE SEA-SHORE FOR HOURS

for Yamba's escape, which was no doubt dreadfully
ungrateful of me. I can only ask your pity and
sympathy in my terrible affliction. What made my

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 253

sorrow and remorse the more poignant, was the reflec-
tion that if I had retained one atom of my self-posses-
sion I would never have dreamed of approaching the
little European vessel at the head of a whole flotilla
of catamarans, filled with yelling and gesticulating
savages. As to the people on board the vessel, I
exonerated them then, and I exonerate them now,
from all blame. Had you or I been on board, we
should probably have done exactly the same thing
under the circumstances.

Clearly the only reasonable plan of action was to
have gone alone; but then, at critical times, even the
wisest among us is apt to lose his head. God knows
I paid dearly enough for my lack of judgment on this
melancholy occasion.

My wound was not at all serious, and, thanks to
Yamba's care, it quickly healed, and I was able to get
about once more.

But I ought to tell you that when we returned I
could not bear to go into our hut, where every little
bunch of withered flowers, every garment of skin, and
every implement, proclaimed aloud the stunning loss
I had sustained. No, I went back direct to the camp
of the natives, and remained among them until the
moment came for my departure. I think it was in the
soft, still nights that I felt it most. I wept till I was
as weak as a baby. Oh the torments of remorse I
endured — the fierce resentment against an all-wise Pro-
vidence ! " Alone ! alone ! alone ! " I would shriek in an
agony of wretchedness; "Gone! gone! gone! Oh, come
back to me, come back to me, I cannot live here now."

And I soon realised that it was impossible for me
to remain there any longer. There was much weeping

2 54 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

and lamentation among the native women, but I
guessed it was not so much on account of the poor
girls, as out of sympathy for the loss the great white
chief had sustained. I think Yamba went among
them, and pointed out the magnitude of the disaster;
otherwise they would have failed to grasp it. What
was the loss of a woman or two to them ? I felt,
I say, that I could not settle down in my hut again,
and I was consumed with an intense longing to go
away into the wilderness and there hide my grief.
In making an attempt to reach civilisation, I thought
this time of going due south, so that perhaps I might
ultimately reach Sydney, or Melbourne, or Adelaide.
I argued thus casually to myself, little dreaming of
the vast distances — mountain ranges and waterless
deserts — that separated me from these great cities
For all I knew, I might have come upon them in a few
weeks ! All I was certain of was that they lay some-
where to the south. Time was no object to me, and
I might as well be walking in the direction of civilisa-
tion as remaining in idle misery in my bay home,
brooding over the disaster that had clouded my life
and made it infinitely more intolerable than it was
before the girls came.

Yamba instantly agreed to accompany me, and a
few weeks after the loss of the girls we started out
once more on our wanderings, accompanied by my
ever faithful dog.

Bruno also missed his young mistresses. He would
moan and cry pitifully, and run aimlessly up and down
the beach looking out to sea. Ah ! had I only taken
Bruno on that fatal day, he would not have let my
dear ones drown !

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 255

As I have said, I remained only a few weeks in my
bay home, and then departed. Tlie blacks, too, left
the spot, for the}' never stay where the shadow of
death lies, fearing the unpleasant attentions of the
spirits of the deceased. The parting between me and
my people was a most affecting one, the women fairly
howling in lamentations, which could be heard a
great distance away. They had shown such genuine
sympathy with me in my misfortune that our friend-
ship had very materially increased ; but in spite of
this good feeling, I knew I could never be happy
among them again.

So we started off into the unknown, with no more
provision or equipment than if we were going for a
stroll of a mile or so. Yamba carried her yam-stick
and basket, and I had my usual weapons — tomahawk
and stiletto in my belt, and bow and arrows in my
hand. I never dreamed when we started that to
strike due south would take us into the unexplored
heart of the continent. Day after day, however, we
walked steadily on our course, steering in a very
curious manner. We were guided by the ant-hills,
which are always built facing the east, whilst the top
inclines towards the north ; and we knew that the
scratches made on trees by the opossums were invari-
ably on the north side.

We often steered by the habits of insects, wasps'
nests, and other curious auguries, fixing our position
at night by the stars and in the daytime by our own
shadows. Yamba always went in front and I followed.
The bush teemed with fruits and roots. After leaving
our own camp in the Cambridge Gulf region we struck
a fine elevated land, excellently well watered; and

2 56 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

later on we followed the Victoria River in a south-
easterly direction through part of the Northern Terri-
tories of South Australia. We at length struck a
peculiar country covered with coarse grass ten feet or
twelve feet high — not unlike the sugar-cane which I
afterwards saw, but much more dense.

It was, of course, impossible for us to pursue our
course due south, owing to the forests and ranges
which we encountered; we had, as a matter of fact,
to follow native and kangaroo tracks wherever they
took us — east, west, and even north occasionally,
generally to water-holes. The progress of the natives
is simply from one water supply to another. But as
far as possible we pursued our way south. You will
understand that this kind of travelling was very dif-
ferent from that which we experienced on the Victoria
River — which, by the way, traversed a very fine
country. As we ascended it we passed many isolated
hills of perhaps a few hundred feet, and nowhere
did I see any scrub or spinifex.

After leaving the Victoria we came upon a more
elevated plateau covered with rather fine but short
grass ; the trees were scarcer here, but finer and
bigger. There was plenty of water in the native wells
and in the hollows, although we frequently had to
remove a few stones to get at it. There were plenty
of kangaroos and emus about, as well as turkeys ;
these latter provided us with an unwonted dish, to say
nothing of their delicious eggs.

Another reason for our coming round out of our
course when we came to forests was because but little
food was found in them. Kangaroos and other animals
were seldom or never found there : they abounded

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 257

usually in the more scrubby country. Our progress
was very leisurely, and, as we met tribe after tribe, we
ingratiated ourselves with them and camped at their
wells. Occasionally we came upon curious rivers and
lagoons that ran into the earth and disappeared in the
most mysterious way, only to reappear some distance
farther on. Of course, I may be mistaken in this, but
such at any rate was my impression.

One day as we were marching steadily along, Yamba
startled me by calling out excitedly, '* Up a tree, —
quick ! Up a tree ! " And so saying she scampered
up the nearest tree herself. Now, by this time I had
become so accustomed to acting upon her advice un-
questioningly, that without waiting to hear any more I
made a dash for the nearest likely tree and climbed
into it as fast as I could. Had she called out to me,
" Leap into the river," I should have done so without
asking a question. When I was safely in the branches,
however, I called out to her (her tree was only a few
yards away), "What is the matter?" She did not
reply, but pointed to a vast stretch of undulating
country over which we had just come ; it was fairly
well wooded. It lingers in my mind as a region in
which one was able to see a fairly long way in every
direction — a very unusual feature in the land of " Never
Never"!

I looked, but at first could see nothing. Presently,
however, it seemed to me that the whole country in
the far distance was covered with a black mantle,
which appeared to be made up of living creatures.

Steadily and rapidly this great mysterious wave
swept along towards us ; and seeing that I was both
puzzled and alarmed, Yamba gave me to understand

2 58 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

that we should presently be surrounded by myriads of
rats, stretching away in every direction like a Hving
sea. The phenomenon was evidently known to Yamba,
and she went on to- explain that these creatures were
migrating from the lowlands to the mountains, knowing
by instinct that the season of the great floods was at
hand. That weird and extraordinary sight will live in
my memory for ever. I question whether a spectacle
so fantastic and awe-inspiring was ever dealt with,
even in the pages of quasi-scientific fiction. It was
impossible for me to observe in what order the rats
were advancing, on account of the great stretch of
country which they covered. Soon, however, their
shrill squeals were distinctly heard, and a few minutes
later the edge of that strange tide struck our tree and
swept past us with a force impossible to realise. No
living thing was spared. Snakes, lizards — ay, even
the biggest kangaroos — succumbed after an ineffectual
struggle. The rats actually ate those of their fellows
who seemed to hesitate or stumble. The curious thing
was that the great army never seemed to stand still.
It appeared to me that each rat simply took a bite
at whatever prey came his wa}', and then passed on
with the rest.

I am unable to say how long the rats were in passing
— it might have been an hour. Yamba told me that
there would have been no help for us had we been
overtaken on foot by these migratory rodents. It
is my opinion that no creature in Nature, from the
elephant downwards, could have lived in that sea of
rats. I could not see the ground between them, so
closely were they packed. The only creatures that
escaped them were birds. The incessant squealing

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 259

and the patter of their little feet made an extraordinary
sound, comparable only to the sighing of the wind or
the beat of a great rain-storm. I ought to mention,
though, that I was unable accurately to determine the
sound made by the advancing rats owing to my partial
deafness, which you will remember was caused by the
great wave which dashed me on to the deck of the
Veiellajid, just before landing on the sand-spit in the
Sea of Timor. I often found this deafness a very
serious drawback, especially when hunting. I was
sometimes at a loss to hear the "coo-ee" or call of my
natives. Fortunate men ! they did not even understand
what deafness meant. Lunacy also was unknown
among them, and such a thing as suicide no native can
possibly grasp or understand. In all my wanderings
I only met one idiot or demented person. He had
been struck by a falling tree, and was worshipped as
a demi-god !

When the rats had passed by, we watched them
enter a large creek and swim across, after which they
disappeared in the direction of some ranges which
were not very far away. They never seemed to break
their ranks; even when swimming, one beheld the
same level brownish mass on the surface of the water.
Yamba told me that this migration of rats was not
at all uncommon, but that the creatures rarely moved
about in such vast armies as the one that had just
passed.

I also learned that isolated parties of migrating
rats were responsible for the horrible deaths of many
native children, who had, perhaps, been left behind
in camp by their parents, who had gone in search
of water.

26o DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

Up to this time we had always found food plenti-
ful. On our southward journey a particularly pleasant
and convenient article of diet turned up (or fell down)
in the form of the viaru, as it is called, which collects
on the leaves of trees during the night. Both in its
appearance and manner of coming, this curious sub-
stance may be likened to the manna that fell in the
wilderness for the benefit of the Israelites. This niaru

A LIVING BRIDGE

is a whitish substance, not unlike raw cotton in appear-
ance. The natives make bread of it ; it is rather taste-
less, but is very nutritious, and only obtained at certain
times — for example, it never falls at the time of full
moon, and is peculiar to certain districts.

During this great southward journey many strange
things happened, and we saw a host of curious sights.
I only wish I could trust my memory to place these
in their proper chronological order.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 261

We had several visitations of locusts ; and on one
occasion, some months after leaving home, they settled
upon the country around us so thickly as actually to
make a living bridge across a large creek. On several
occasions I have had to dig through a living crust of
these insects, six or eight inches thick, in order to
reach water at a water-hole. These locusts are of a
yellowish-brown colour (many are grey), and they
range in length from two to four inches.

As they rise in the air they make a strange cracking,
snapping sound ; and they were often present in such
myriads as actually to hide the face of the sun. I
found them excellent eating when grilled on red-hot
stones.

Yamba, of course, did all the cooking, making a fire
with her ever-ready fire-stick, which no native woman
is ever without ; and while she looked after the supply
of roots and opossum meat, I generally provided the
snakes, emus, and kangaroos. Our shelter at night
consisted merely of a small gunyah made of boughs,
and we left the fire burning in front of this when
we turned in.

When we had been fully three months out, a very
extraordinary thing happened, which to many people
would be incredible were it not recognised as a well-
known Australian phenomenon. We had reached a
very dry and open grass country, where there was not
a tree to be seen for miles and miles. Suddenly, as
Yamba and I were squatting on the ground enjoying
a meal, we saw a strange black cloud looming on the
horizon, and hailed its advent with the very greatest
delight, inasmuch as it presaged rain — which is
always so vitally important a visitation in the " Never

262 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

Never." We waited in anticipation until the cloud
was right over our heads. Then the deluge com-
menced, and to my unbounded amazement I found that
with the rain live fish as big as wJiitebait ive?'e falling
frotn the clouds ! When this wonderful rain-storm
had passed, large pools of water were left on the
surface of the ground, and most of these were fairly
alive with fish. This surface-water, however, evapo-
rated in the course of a few days, and then, as the
blazing sun beat down upon the fish-covered country,
we found the region growing quite intolerable on
account of the awful stench.

Talking of storms, I have seen it stated that the
Australian natives are in a state of high glee whenever
they hear thunder. This is perfectly true, but I have
never seen any explanation of this joy. It is simple
enough. The natives know that thunder presages
rain, which is alwa3's a blessing of great price in that
thirsty country.

I think this was the first time I had actually seen
it rain fish. But I had often been surprised, to
find water-holes, and even the pools in grassy plains,
literally alive with fish a few days after a storm. And
they grew with astounding rapidity, provided the water
did not evaporate. This was in the vicinity of my
Cambridge Gulf home.

We remained in the neighbourhood for some time,
living on a most welcome fish diet. Very frequently
in our wanderings we were provided with another
dainty in the shape of a worm, which, when broiled
over charcoal, had the flavour of a walnut.

These worms we found in the grass trees, which
grow to a height of ten to twenty feet, and have

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 263

bare trunks surmounted by what looks at a distance
like a big bunch of drooping bulrushes. The worms
were of a whitish colour, and were always found in the
interior of a well-matured or decaying stem ; so that
all we had to do was to push the tree over with our
feet and help ourselves.

In the course of our wanderings we usually went
from tribe to tribe, staying a little time with some,
and with others merely exchanging greetings. With
some tribes we would perhaps travel a little way south,
and only part with them when they were about to
strike northwards; and as their course was simply
from water-hole to water-hole, as I have told you, it
was always pretty erratic.

CHAPTER XIII

My usual introduction — A serious entertainment — ^Tiie power of the
bow — Repulsive blacks- — Mysterious spears — Waterless wastes —
A battle with snakes — More prestige — Rubies thrown away —
Quarrying extraordinary.

OCCASIONALLY one of the tribes would display
hostility towards us at first sight, but I generally
managed to ingratiate myself into their good graces
by the exercise of a little diplomacy — and acrobatics.
Curiously enough, many of these tribes did not display
much surprise at seeing a white man, apparently re-
serving all their amazement for Bruno's bark and the
white man's wonderful performances.

I may here remark that, in the event of our coming
across a hostile tribe who fought shy of my friendly
advances, I would, without ceremony, introduce myself
by dashing into their midst and turning a few somer-
saults or Catherine-wheels such as the London gamins
display for the benefit of easily-pleased excursionists.
This queer entertainment usually created roars of
laughter, and set every one at his ease.

I remember once being surprised by the sudden
appearance over the crest of a hillock of about twenty
blacks, all well armed and presenting rather a formi-
dable appearance. The moment they caught sight of

Yamba and myself they halted, whereupon I advanced

264

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES 265

and called out to them that I was a friend, at the same
time holding out my passport stick. By the way, the
efficacy of this talisman varied according to the tribes.
Yamba could make neither head nor tail of these people ;
they jabbered in a language quite unintelligible to either
of us. I then reverted to the inevitable sign language,
giving them to understand that I wished to sleep with
them a night or two ; but they still continued to brandish
their spears ominously. Yamba presently whispered in
my ear that we had better not trouble them any further,
as they were evidently inclined to be pugnacious. This
was a very exceptional rencontre, because I usually
induced the natives to sit down and parley with me,
and then I would produce my mysterious stick. In the
event of this proving of little account, both I and Bruno
would without a moment's hesitation plunge into our
performance. It always began with a few somersaults.
Bruno needed no looking after. He knew his busi-
ness, and went through his own repertoire with great
energy and excitement. The accompanying barks were
probably involuntary, but they were a great help in
astonishing and impressing the natives.

Even in this instance I was unwilling to retire
defeated ; so suddenly pulling out one of my little reed
whistles capable of producing two notes, I commenced a
violent jig to my own "music." The effect on the
scowling and ferocious-looking blacks was quite
magical. They immediately threw down their spears
and laughed uproariously at my vigorous antics. I
danced till I was quite tired, but managed to wind up
the entertainment with a few somersaults, which
impressed them vastly.

I had conquered. When I had finished they

266 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

advanced and greeted me most heartily, and from that
moment we were friends. I had completely done away
with their enmity by my simple efforts to amuse them.
For the most part, this was my invariable experience.
The natives were the easiest people in the world to
interest and amuse, and when once I had succeeded
in winning them in this way, they were our warmest
friends. This band of warriors took us back to their
camping-ground, some miles away, and actually gave a
great feast in my honour that evening, chanting the
wonderful things they had seen until far into the night.
The place where I met these blacks was a broken,
stony, and hilly country, which, however, abounded
in roots and snakes — especially snakes. My hosts had
evidently had a recent battue, or fire hunt, for they had
a most extraordinary stock of food. So completely had
I won them over, that I actually hung up my bow and
arrows along with their spears before retiring to rest.
The expression " hung up " may seem curious, so I
hasten to explain that the natives tied up their spears
in bunches and placed them on the scrub bushes.

Next morning I brought down a few hawks on the
wing with my bow and arrows, and then the amazement
of the natives was quite comical to witness. Shooting
arrows in a straight line astonished them somewhat,
but the more bombastic among them would say, " Why
I can do that," and taking his woomerah he would hurl
a spear a long distance. Not one of them, however,
was able to throw a spear upwards, so I scored over
even the most redoubtable chiefs. It may be well
to explain, that birds are always to be found hovering
about a native camp ; they act as scavengers, and their
presence in the sky is always an indication that an

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 267

encampment is somewhere in the vicinity. These birds
are especially on the spot when the blacks set fire to
the bush and organise a big battue. At such times the
rats and lizards rush out into the open, and the hawks
reap a fine harvest.

My natives are referred to as " blacks," or " black-
fellows," but they are not really black, their hue being
rather a brown, ranging from a very dark brown, in-
deed, to almost the lightness of a Malay. I found the
coast tribes lightest in hue, while the inland natives
were very much darker. Here I may mention that
after having been on my way south for some months,
I began to notice a total difference between the natives
I met and my own people in the Cambridge Gulf
district. The tribes I was now encountering daily
were inferior in physique, and had inferior war imple-
ments ; I do not remember that they had any shields.

The blacks I had whistled and jigged before were,
perhaps, the ugliest of all the aborigines I had met,
which was saying a very great deal. The men
were very short, averaging little more than five feet,
with low foreheads and hideously repulsive features.
I noticed, however, that the animals they had for food
seemed very much fatter than similar creatures farther
north. One thing I was grateful to these people for
was honey, which I urgently required for medicinal
purposes. They were very sorry when we left them,
and a small band of warriors accompanied us on our
first day's march. We were then handed on from tribe
to tribe, smoke signals being sent up to inform the next
"nation" that friendly strangers were coming.

Nevertheless, I gradually became uneasy. We were
evidently getting into a country where the greatest of

268 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

our wonders could not save us from the hostility of
the natives. We presently encountered another tribe,
who not only at first refused to accept our friendly
overtures, but even threatened to attack us before I
had time to consider another plan. 1 tried the effect
of my whistle, but even this failed in its effect ; and to
my alarm, before I could give them an exhibition of
my acrobatic powers they had hurled one or two war
spears, which whizzed by unpleasantly close to my
head. Without further ado, well knowing that vacil-
lation meant death, I sent half-a-dozen arrows in
succession amongst them, taking care, however, to aim
very low, so as not unduly to injure my opponents.

The hostile blacks came to a sudden halt, as they
found the mysterious spears flying round them, and
then watching my opportunity, I dashed forward right
among them, and turned over and over in a series of
rapid and breathless somersaults.

I had conquered again. Do not blame the natives,
for with them every stranger is an enemy until he
has proved himself a friend. Hence it is that when
white men suddenly appear among these natives they
run imminent risk of being promptly speared, unless
they can make it quite clear that no harm is intended.

Bruno ran the same risk. Incident after incident
of this kind happened almost daily, and although
they involved some peril, yet they came as a
welcome break when life on the march grew too
monotonous. Deliberate treachery was very rare
among the natives I came across, but it was by no
means altogether absent ; and, notwithstanding all my
knowledge, my wife and I were sometimes in serious
danger of our lives.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 269

One day we came upon a tribe as usual, and after
the customary preliminaries were gone through they
became apparently quite friendly. I was careful
never unduly to exhibit my steel tomahawk, which I
always kept in a kind of sheath or covering of
opossum-skin, so that it might not arouse envy ; a
second motive for this was to prevent its chafing
my body. I never used either stiletto or tomahawk
unless absolutely necessary, reserving both for great
emergencies. I knew they could never be replaced,
so it behoved me jealously to guard such precious
possessions. I never even used my stiletto at meal-
times, nor even in cutting up animals for food, lest
the blood should rust the blade and eat it away.
Many times already had it come in useful at close
quarters — notably in the case of the fight with the
alligator and the killing of the cannibal chief who
owned the white girls.

The chief of the tribe I am discussing saw me
using my tomahawk one day, and eagerly asked me
to make over the implement to him as a gift. I
courteously told him that I could not do so. He
seemed somewhat disappointed at my refusal, but did
not appear to bear me any ill-feeling in consequence.
The blacks, by the way, seldom cut down trees except
for spears, and the reason for this is very curious.
They imagine the tree to be a thing of life, and when
they are forced to cut one down, quite a religious
ceremony is held, and profuse apologies made to the
tree for taking its life.

They never even take a strip of bark right round,
knowing that this will kill the tree ; they always
leave a little bit of connecting bark.

270 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

As some reason for the refusal of my tomahawk
was expected, I told the chief that it was part of
my life — indeed, part of my very being, which was
perfectly true. I also worked on the chief's super-
stitions, assuring him earnestly that if I parted with
the weapon it would so anger the spirits as to bring
about a terrible curse in the country. The tomahawk
I declared was a direct gift to me from the Sun itself,
so how could I part with it ? I had thought of
offering it, curses and all, but the risk of prompt
acceptance was too great.

That night Yamba warned me that trouble was
impending. For myself I never knew, and I suppose
she read the signs among the men and got certain
definite information from the women. We therefore
slept some miles away from the encampment in a
makeshift gunyah built of boughs, in front of which
the usual fire was made. After we had retired to
rest, Yamba woke me and said that she detected
strange noises. I immediately sprang to my feet and
looked all round our little shelter. It was much too
dark for me to see anything distinctly, but I fancied I
heard retreating footsteps. Utterly at a loss to
account for this strange occurrence, and fearing that
some danger threatened us, Yamba and I covered in
the front of the shelter, and then quietly retired into
the bush, where we lay hidden without a fire until
morning. When we returned to our shelter it was
broad daylight, and, as we half expected, we found
three formidable spears buried in the sides of our little
hut. Three others were stuck in the ground near the
fire, clearly proving that an attempt had been made upon
our lives during the night. On examining the spears

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 271

we found they most certainly belonged to the tribe we
had left the previous day. The spear-heads were of a
different kind of flint from anything I had previously
seen, being dark green in colour ; and they were
extremely sharp. The individuality of the different
tribes is strongly and decidedly marked in the make
of their spears. Our treacherous hosts had evidently
determined to obtain the coveted tomahawk by force,
and when they reached the spot where they supposed
we lay (they could not see into the interior from the
front), they hurled their spears in the hope of killing
us, but did not investigate the result, they being
such arrant cowards at night. Remember, they had
actually ventured at night into the bush in spite of
their inveterate fear of " the spirits."

The precaution adopted on this occasion was
always followed by us when we had any real doubt
about the natives ; that is to say, we built a
" dummy " gunyah of boughs, which we were sup-
posed to sleep in ; and we covered in the front so as
our possible assailants could not easily detect our
absence. We would then creep away into the bush
or hide behind a tree, and, of course, would light
no fire.

Many times was that same tomahawk coveted.
You see, the natives would watch me cutting boughs
with it, or procuring honey by cutting down branches
with an ease that caused them to despise their own
rude stone axes.

The case of treachery I have just described was
not an isolated one, but I am bound to say such
occurrences were rare in the interior — although more
or less frequent about the western shores of the

272 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

Gulf of Carpentaria. At any rate, this was my
experience.

During our journey from my home to the shores
of the Gulf, I remember coming across a flat country
from which the natives had apparently disappeared
altogether. When we did come upon them, however,
in the high ground I was probably guilty of some
little breach of etiquette, such as looking at the
women — (for many reasons I always studied the
various types in a tribe) — -and Yamba and I were
often in peril of our lives on this account. As a
rule, however, safety lay in the fact that the natives
are terribly afraid of darkness, and they believe the
spirits of the dead roam abroad in the midnight
hours.

Month after month we continued our progress in
a southerly direction, although, as I have said
before, we often turned north-east and even due west,
following the valleys when stopped by the ranges
— where, by the way, we usually found turkeys in
great numbers. We had water-bags made out of
the skins of kangaroos and wallabies, and would camp
wherever possible close to a native well, where we
knew food was to be found in plenty.

At this period I noticed that the more easterly
I went, the more ranges I encountered ; whilst the
somewhat dreary and mostly waterless lowland lay
to the west. We would sometimes fail to obtain
water for a couple of days ; but this remark does not
apply to the mountainous regions. Often the wells
were quite dry and food painfully scarce ; this would
be in a region of sand and spinifex.

When I beheld an oasis of palms and ti-trees

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 273

I would make for it, knowing that if no water existed
there, it could easily be got by digging. The
physical conditions of the country would change
suddenly, and my indefatigable wife was frequently
at fault in her root-hunting expeditions. Fortunately,
animal life was very seldom scarce. On the whole,
we were extremely fortunate in the matter of water,
— although the natives often told me that the low
wastes of sand and spinifex were frequently so dry,
that it was impossible even for them to cross. What
astonished me greatly was that the line of demarca-
tion between an utter desert and, say, a fine forest
was almost as sharply marked as if it had been
drawn with a rule. A stretch of delightfully wooded
country would follow the dreary wastes, and this in
turn would give place to fairly high mountain ranges.

Once, during a temporary stay among one of the
tribes, the chief showed me some very interesting
caves among the low limestone ranges that were
close by. It was altogether a very rugged country.
Always on the look-out for something to interest and
amuse me, and always filled with a strange, vague
feeling that something might turn up unexpectedly
which would enable me to return to civilisation, I at
once determined to explore these caves ; and here I
had a very strange and thrilling adventure.

Whilst roaming among the caves I came across
a pit measuring perhaps twenty feet in diameter and
eight feet or nine feet in depth. It had a sandy
bottom ; and as I saw a curious-looking depression in
one corner, I jumped down to investigate it, leaving
Bruno barking at the edge of the pit, because I knew
I should have some trouble in hoisting him up again

274 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

if I allowed him to accompany me. I carried a long
stick, much longer than a waddy ; perhaps it was a
yam-stick — I cannot remember. At any rate, just
as I was about to probe a mysterious-looking hole, I
beheld with alarm and amazement the ugly head of
a large black snake suddenly thrust out at me from
a dark mass, which I presently found was the
decayed stump of a tree. I fell back as far as
possible, and then saw that the reptile had quite
uncoiled itself from the stem, and was coming
straight at me. I promptly dealt it a violent blow
on the body, just below that point where it raised its
head from the ground. No sooner had I done this
than another dark and hissing head came charging in
my direction. Again I struck at the reptile's body
and overpowered it. Next came a third, and a
fourth, and fifth, and then I realised that the whole
of the dead stump was simply one living mass of
coiled snakes, which were probably hibernating. One
after another they came at me ; of course, had they
all come at once, no power on earth could have
saved me. I wondered how long this weird contest
would be kept up ; and again and again between the
attacks I tried to escape, but had scarcely taken an
upward step when another huge reptile was upon me.
I was aware that Bruno was running backwards
and forwards at the edge of the pit all this time,
barking frantically in a most excited state. He knew
perfectly well what snakes were, having frequently
been bitten. I owe my life on this occasion solely
to the fact that the snakes were in a torpid state,
and came at me one at a time instead of altogether.
It was the cold season, about the month of June or

ONE AFTER ANOTHER THEY CAME

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES 277

July. It is impossible at such moments to take any
account of time, so I cannot say how long the battle
lasted. At length, however, I was able to count the
slain. I did this partly out of curiosity and partly
because I wanted to impress the natives — to boast,
if you prefer that phrase. Modesty, where modesty
is unknown, would have been absurd, if not fatal to
my prestige. Well, in all there were sixty-eight black
snakes, averaging about four feet six inches in length.

I do not remember that I was fatigued ; I think
my excitement was too great for any such feeling to
have made itself felt. When at length I was able to
get away, I and Bruno rushed off to the native camp
a few miles away, and brought back the blacks to see
what I had done. The spectacle threw them into a
state of great amazement, and from that time on I was
looked upon with the greatest admiration. The story
of how I had killed the snakes soon spread abroad
among the various tribes for miles round, and was
chanted by many tribes, the means of inter-communi-
cation being the universal smoke-signals. One impor-
tant consequence of this adventure was that I was
everywhere received with the very greatest respect.

It may be mentioned here that no matter how
unfriendly tribes may be, they always exchange news
by means of smoke-signals. I may also say that at
corroborees and such-like festivities a vast amount of
poetic boasting and exaggeration is indulged in, each
" hero " being required to give practical demonstra-
tions of the things he has seen, the doughty deeds
he has done, &c. He warms up as he goes along,
and magnifies its importance in a ridiculous way. It
amuses me to this day to recall my own preposterous

2/8 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

songs about how I killed the two whales with my
stiletto, and other droll pretensions. But, ah ! I was
serious enough then !

In the mountainous region where I encountered
the snakes, I also met a native who actually spoke
English. He called himself either Peter or Jacky
Jacky — I cannot remember which ; but in any case it
was a name given him by pearlers. He had once
lived with some pearlers near the north-west coast of
Western Australia — probably on the De Grey River.
His story was quite unprecedented among the blacks,
and he gave me many terrible instances of the perfidy
shown by white adventurers towards the unfortunate
natives. The precise locality where I met this man
was probably near Mount Farewell, close to the
border-line of South Australia and Western Australia.
Well, then, Jacky Jacky — to give him the name which
lingers most tenaciously in my mind — was persuaded
to join in a pearling expedition, together with a
number of his companions. They all accepted engage-
ments from the whites, on the distinct understanding
that they were to be away about three moons. Instead,
they were practically kidnapped by force, and treated —
or rather ill-treated — as slaves for several years.

First of all, the poor creatures were taken to an
island in the vicinity of North- West Cape, off which
the pearling fleet lay. During the voyage to the
pearling grounds the water supply on board ran
short, and so great was the suffering among the
blacks — they were kept on the shortest of short
commons, as you may suppose — that they plotted
to steal a cask of the precious fluid for their own
use. The vessel was quite a small one, and the

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 279

water was kept in the hold. But the two or three
whites who formed the crew forcibly prevented the
black-fellows from carrying out their plan. This
gave rise to much discontent, and eventually the
blacks, in desperation, openly rose and mutinied.
Arming themselves with heavy pieces of firewood
they proceeded to attack their masters, and some
of them succeeded in getting at the water, in
spite of the whites, by simply knocking the bungs
out of the casks. The captain thereupon went down
to parley with them, but was met by a shower of
blows from the heavy sticks I have just mentioned.
Half-stunned, he dashed out of the hold, got his
musket, and fired down among the mutineers, hitting
one black-fellow in the throat, and killing him instantly.
Far from infuriating the rest, as would most certainly
have been the case with any other race, this course of
action terrified the blacks, and they barricaded them-
selves down below. Eventually the whites again sought
them and made peace, the blacks promising to con-
duct themselves more obediently in the future. It may
here be said that the ship had called specially at Jacky
Jacky's home on the coast to kidnap the natives.

On arriving at the pearling settlement, the blacks
found themselves among a number of other unfortu-
nate creatures like themselves, and all were compelled
to go out in pearling vessels just as the exigencies of
the industry required. Jacky Jacky himself was kept
at this work for upwards of three years ; and he told
me many terrible stories of the white man's indescrib-
able cruelty and villainy. He and his companions
were invariably chained up during the night and
driven about like cattle in the daytime. Many of his

28o DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

mates at the pearling settlement had been kidnapped
from their homes in a cruel and contemptible manner,
and herded off like sheep by men on horseback armed
with formidable weapons.

Their sufferings were very great because, of course,
they were totally unused to work of any kind. The
enforced exile from home and the dreary compulsory
labour made the life far worse than death for these
primitive children of Nature. Then, again, they were
exiled from their wives, who would, of course, be
appropriated in their absence — another tormenting
thought. They were frequently beaten with sticks,
and when they attempted to run away they were
speared as enemies by other tribes ; whilst, in the
event of their escaping altogether, they would not
have been recognised even when they returned to
their own homes. One day Jacky Jacky's ship came
into a little bay on the mainland for water, and then
my enterprising friend, watching his opportunity,
struck inland for home and liberty, accompanied by
several other companions in misery. These latter
the coast natives promptly speared, but Jacky Jacky
escaped, thanks probably to his knowledge of the
white man's wiles. He soon reached the more
friendly mountain tribes in the interior, where he
was received as a man and a brother. You see,
he had stolen a revolver from his late masters, and
this mysterious weapon created great terror among
his new friends. Altogether he posed as quite a
great man, particularly when his story became known.
He worked his way from tribe to tribe, until at length
he got to the ranges where I met him — quite a vast
distance from the coast.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 281

Many parts of the extensive country I traversed
on my southward journey, after the death of the girls,
were exceedingly rich in minerals, and particularly in
gold, both alluvial and in quartz. As I was making
my way one day through a granite country along the
banks of a creek, I beheld some reddish stones, which
I at once pounced upon and found to be beautiful
rubies. Having no means of carrying them, however,
and as they were of no value whatever to me, I
simply threw them away again, and now merely
record the fact. I also came across large quantities
of alluvial tin, but this, again, was not of the slightest
use, any more than it had been when I found it in
very large quantities in the King Leopold Ranges.
The test I applied to see whether it really was tin
was to scratch it with my knife. Even when large
quantities of native gold lay at my feet, I hardly
stooped to pick it up, save as a matter of curiosity.
Why should I ? What use was it to me ? As I
have stated over and over again in public, I would
have given all the gold for a few ounces of salt, which
I needed so sorely. Afterwards, however, I made
use of the precious metal in a very practical manner,
but of this more hereafter. At one place — probably
near the Warburton Ranges in Western Australia —
I picked up an immense piece of quartz, which was
so rich that it appeared to be one mass of virgin gold ;
and when on showing it to Yamba I told her that in
my country men were prepared to go to any part of
the world, and undergo many terrible hardships to
obtain it, she thought at first I was joking. Indeed,
the thing amused her ever after, as it did the
rest of my people. I might also mention that up

282 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

in the then little-known Kimberley district, many of
the natives weighted their spears with pure gold. I
must not omit to mention that natives never poison
their spear-heads, I only found the nuggets, big
and little, near the creeks during and after heavy
rains ; and I might mention that having with some
difficulty interested Yamba in the subject, she was
always on the look-out for the tell-tale specks and
gleams. In some of the ranges, too, I found the
opal in large and small quantities, but soon dis-
covered that the material was too light and brittle
for spear-heads, to which curious use I essayed to
put this beautiful stone. Talking about spear-heads,
in the ranges where I met Jacky Jacky there was a
quarry of that kind of stone which was used for the
making of war and other implements. It was very
much worked, and as you may suppose was a valua-
able possession to the tribe in whose territory it was
situated. The stone was a kind of flint, extremely
hard and capable of being made very sharp, and re-
taining its edge. Natives from far and near came
to barter for the stone with shells, and ornaments
which these inland tribes did not possess. The
method of getting out the stone was by building fires
over it, and then when it had become red-hot throw-
ing large and small quantities of water upon it in an
amazingly dexterous way. The stone would im-
mediately be split and riven exactly in the manner
required.

My very first discovery of gold was made in some
crevices near a big creek, which had cut its way
through deep layers of conglomerate hundreds of feet
thick. This country was an elevated plateau, inter-

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 283

sected by deeply cut creeks, which had left the various
strata quite bare, with curious concave recesses in
which the natives took shelter during the wet season.
One of the nuggets I picked up in the creek I have
just mentioned weighed several pounds, and was
three or four inches long ; it was rather more than an
inch in thickness. This nugget I placed on a block
of wood and beat out with a stone, until 1 could
twist it easily with my fingers, when I fashioned in
into a fillet as an ornament for Yamba's hair. This
she continued to wear for many years afterwards, but
the rude golden bracelets and anklets I also made for
her she gave away to the first children we met.

In many of the rocky districts the reefs were
evidently extremely rich ; but I must confess I rarely
troubled to explore them. In other regions the gold-
bearing quartz was actually a curse, our path being
covered with sharp pebbles of quartz and slate, which
made every step forward a positive agony. Wild
ranges adjoined that conglomerate country, which, as
you have probably gathered, is extremely difficult
to traverse. Certainly it would be impossible for
camels.

CHAPTER XIV

An eventful meeting — Civilisation at last — Rage and despair — A white
man's tracks — Yamba's find — Good Samaritans — Bitter disap-
pointment— Bruno as guardian — A heavy burden — A strange
invitation — The mysterious monster — " Come, and be our chief"
• — I discover a half-caste girl — The fate of Leichhardt — "In the
valley of the shadow "—A sane white man — Gibson is dying —
Vain efforts — Unearthly voices.

WHEN we had been on the march southwards
about nine months there came one of the
most important incidents in my life, and one which
completely changed my plans. One day we came
across a party of about eight natives — all young
fellows — who were on a punitive expedition ; and as
they were going in our direction (they overtook us
going south), we walked along with them for the
sake of their company. The country through which
we were passing at that time is a dreary, undulating
expanse of spinifex desert, with a few scattered and
weird-looking palms, a little scrub, and scarcely any
signs of animal life. The further east we went, the
better grew the country ; but, on the other hand,
when we went westward we got farther and farther
into the dreary wastes. At the spot I have in my
mind ranges loomed to the south — a sight which
cheered me considerably, for somehow I thought I

should soon strike civilisation.

284

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES 285

Had not the blacks we were with taken us to
some wells we would have fared very badly indeed in
this region, as no water could be found except by
digging. I noticed that the blacks looked for a hollow
depression marked by a certain kind of palm, and
then dug a hole in the gravel and sandy soil with
their hands and yam-sticks. They usually came upon
water a few feet down, but the distance often varied
very considerably.

We were crossing the summit of a little hill, where
we had rested for a breathing space, when, without
the least warning, I suddenly beheld, a few hundred
yards away, in the valley beneath, four white men on
horseback ! I think they had a few spare horses with
them, but, of course, all that I saw were the four
white men. I afterwards learned that, according to
our respective routes, wc would have crossed their
track, but they would not have crossed ours. They
were going west. They wore the regulation dress
of the Australian — broad sombrero hats, flannel shirts,
and rather dirty white trousers, with long riding-
boots. I remember they were moving along at a
wretched pace, which showed that their horses were
nearly spent. Once again, notwithstanding all previous
bitter lessons, my uncontrollable excitement was my
undoing. " Civilisation at last ! " I screamed to my-
self, and then, throwing discretion to the winds, I
gave the war-whoop of the blacks and rushed madly
forward, yelling m^'self hoarse, and supremely oblivious
of the fantastic and savage appearance I must have
presented — with my long hair flowing wildly out
behind, and my skin practically indistinguishable from
that of an ordinary black-fellow. My companions, I

286 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

afterwards discovered, swept after me as in a furious
charge, for they thought I ivantcd to annihilate the white
men at sight. Naturally, the spectacle unnerved the
pioneers, and they proceeded to repel the supposed
attack by firing a volley into the midst of us. Their
horses were terrified, and reared and plunged in

CIVILISATION AT LAST

a dangerous manner, thereby greatly adding to the
excitement of that terrible moment. The roar of the
volley and the whizz of the shots brought me to my
senses, however, and although I was not hit, I promptly
dropped to the ground amidst the long grass, as also
did Yamba and the other blacks. Like a flash my

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 287

idiotic blunder came home to me, and then I was ready
to dash out again alone to explain ; but Yamba forcibly
prevented me from exposing myself to what she con-
sidered certain death.

The moment the horsemen saw us all disappear
in the long grass they wheeled round, changing
their course a little more to the south — they had
been going west, so far as I can remember — and
their caravan crawled off in a manner that suggested
that the horses were pretty well done for. On our
part, we at once made for the ranges that lay a little
to the south. Here we parted with our friends the
blacks, who made off in an east-south-easterly
direction.

The dominant feeling within me as I saw the
white men ride off was one of uncontrollable rage
and mad despair. I was apparently a pariah, with
the hand of every white man — when I met one —
against me. "Well," I thought, "if civilisation is
not prepared to receive me, I will wait until it
is." Disappointment after disappointment, coupled
with the incessant persuasions of Yamba and my
people generally, were gradually reconciling me to
savage life ; and slowly but relentlessly the thought
crept into my mind that / was doomed never to reach
civilisation again, and so perhaps it would be better
for me to resign myself to the inevitable, and stay
where I was. I would turn back, I thought, with
intense bitterness and heart-break, and make a home
among the tribes in the hills, where we would be safe
from the white man and his murderous weapons.
And I actually did turn back, accompanied, of course,
by Yamba. We did not strike due north again, as it

288 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

was our intention to find a permanent home some-
where among the ranges, at any rate for the ensuing
winter. It was out of the question to camp where
we were, because it was much too cold ; and besides
Yamba had much difficulty in finding roots.

Several days later, as we were plodding steadily
along, away from the ranges that I have spoken of
as lying to the south, Yamba, whose eyes were usually
everywhere, suddenly gave a cry and stood still,
pointing to some peculiar and unmistakable footprints
in the sandy ground. These, she confidently assured
me, were those of a white man who had lost his
reason, and was wandering aimlessly about that fear-
ful country. It was, of course, easy for her to know
the white man's tracks when she saw them, but I was
curious how she could be certain that the wanderer
had lost his reason. She pointed out to me that, in
the first place, the tracks had been made by some
one wearing boots, and as the footprints straggled
about in a most erratic manner, it was clearly evident
that the wearer could not be sane.

Even at this time, be it remembered, I was burning
with rage against the whites, and so I decided to
follow the tracks and find the individual who was
responsible for them. But do not be under any
misapprehension. My intentions were not philan-
thropic, but revengeful. I had become a black-fellow
myself now, and was consumed with a black-fellow's
murderous passion. At one time I thought I would
follow the whole party, and kill them in the darkness
with my stiletto when opportunity offered.

The new tracks we had come upon told me
plainly that the party had separated, and were there-

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 289

fore now in my power. I say these things because
I do not want any one to suppose I followed up
the tracks of the lost man with the intention of
rendering him any assistance.

For nearly two days Yamba and I followed the
tracks, which went in curious circles always trending
to the left. At length we began to come upon
various articles that had apparently been thrown
away by the straggler. First of all, we found part
of a letter that was addressed to some one (I think)
in Adelaide ; but of this I would not be absolutely
certain. What I do remember was that the envelope
bore the postmark of Ti Tree Gully, S.A.

The writer of that letter was evidently a woman,
who, so far as I can remember, wrote congratulating
her correspondent upon the fact that he was join-
ing an expedition which was about to traverse the
entire continent. I fancy she said she was glad
of this for his own sake, for it would no doubt
mean much to him. She wished him all kinds
of glory and prosperity, and wound up by assuring
him that none would be better pleased on his return
than she.

The country through which these tracks led us
was for the most part a mere dry, sandy waste,
covered with the formidable spinifex or porcupine
grass. Yamba walked in front peering at the tracks.

Presently she gave a little cry, and when she
turned to me I saw that she had in her hand the
sombrero hat of an Australian pioneer. A little
farther on we found a shirt, and then a pair of
trousers. We next came upon a belt and a pair
of dilapidated boots.

290 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

At length, on reaching the crest of a sandy hillock,
we suddenly beheld the form of a naked white man
lying face downwards in the sand below us. As
you may suppose, we simply swooped down upon
him ; but on reaching him my first impression was
that he luas dead! His face was slightly turned to
the right, his arms outstretched, and his fingers
dug convulsively in the sand. 1 am amused now
when I remember how great was our emotion on
approaching this unfortunate. My first thought in
turning the man over on to his back, and ascertain-
ing that at last he breathed, was one of great joy
and thankfulness.

" Thank God," I said to myself, " I have at last
found a white companion — one who will put me in
touch once more with the great world outside." The
burning rage that consumed me (you know my
object in following the tracks) died away in pity
as I thought of the terrible privations and sufferings
this poor fellow must have undergone before being
reduced to this state. My desire for revenge was
forgotten, and my only thought now was to nurse
back to health the unconscious man.

First of all I moistened his mouth with the water
which Yamba always carried with her in a skin bag,
and then I rubbed him vigorously, hoping to restore
animation. I soon exhausted the contents of the
bag, however, and immediately Yamba volunteered
to go off and replenish it. She was absent an hour
or more, I think, during which time I persisted in
my massage treatment — although so far I saw no
signs of returning consciousness on the part of my
patient.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 291

When Yamba returned with the water, I tried to
make the prostrate man swallow some of it, and I
even smeared him with the blood of an opossum
which my thoughtful helpmate had brought back
with her. But for a long time all my efforts were
in vain, and then, dragging him to the foot of a grass-
tree, I propped him up slightly against it, wetted his
shirt with water and wound it round his throat.
Meanwhile Yamba threw water on him and rubbed
him vigorously.

At last he uttered a sound — half groan, half sigh
(it thrilled me through and through) ; and I noticed
that he was able to swallow a few drops of water.
The gloom of night was now descending on that
strange wilderness of sand and spinifex, so we pre-
pared to stay there with our helpless charge until
morning. Yamba and I took it in turns to watch
over him and keep his mouth moistened. By morn-
ing he had so far revived that he opened his eyes
and looked at me. How eagerly had I anticipated
that look, and how bitter was my disappointment
when I found that it was a mere vacant stare in
which was no kind of recognition ! Ever hopeful,
however, I attributed the vacant look to the terrible
nature of his sufferings. I was burning to ply
him with all manner of questions as to who he was,
where he had come from, and what news he had of
the outside world ; but I restrained myself by a great
effort, and merely persevered in my endeavours to
restore him to complete animation. When the morn-
ing was pretty well advanced the man was able to
sit up ; and in the course of a few days he was even
able to accompany us to a water-hole, where we

292 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

encamped, and stayed until he had practically re-
covered— or, at any rate, was able to get about.

But, you may be asking, all this time, did the
man himself say nothing ? Indeed, he said much,
and I hung upon every syllable that fell from his
lips, but, to my indescribable chagrin, it was a mere
voluble jargon of statements, which simply baffled and
puzzled me and caused me pain. Our charge would
stare at us stolidly, and then remark, in a vulgar
Cockney voice, that he was quite sure we were going
the wrong way. By this time, I should mention, we
had re-clothed him in his trousers and shirt, for he had
obviously suffered terribly from the burning sun.

Many days passed away before I would admit to
myself that this unhappy creature was a hopeless
imbecile. I was never absent from his side day or
night, hoping and waiting for the first sane remark.
Soon, however, the bitter truth was borne in upon
us that, instead of having found salvation and comfort
in the society of a white man, we were merely saddled
with a ghastly encumbrance, and were far worse off
than before.

We now set off in the direction of our old tracks,
but were not able to travel very fast on account of
the still feeble condition of the white stranger. Poor
creature ! I pitied him from the bottom of my heart.
It seemed so terrible for a man to lapse into a state
of imbecility after having survived the dreadful hard-
ships and adventures that had befallen him. I tried
over and over again to elicit sensible replies to my
questions as to where he came from ; but he simply
gibbered and babbled like a happy baby. I coaxed ;
I threatened ; I persuaded ; but it was all in vain. I

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 293

soon found he was a regular millstone round my neck
— particularly when we were on the " walk-about."
He would suddenly take it into his head to sit down
for hours at a stretch, and nothing would induce him
to move until he did so of his own accord.

Curiously enough, Bruno became very greatly
attached to him, and was his constant companion.
Of this I was extremely glad, because it relieved me
of much anxiety. You will understand what I mean
when I tell you that, in spite of all our endeavours,
our mysterious companion would go off by himself
away from our track ; and at such times were it not
for Bruno — whom he would follow anywhere — we
would often have had much trouble in bringing him
back again. Or he might have been speared before
a strange tribe could have discovered his " sacred "
(idiotic) condition.

At length we reached a large lagoon, on the shores
of which we stayed for about two years. This lagoon
formed part of a big river at flood -time, but the
connecting stretches of water had long since dried
up for many miles both above and below it. The
question may be asked, Why did I settle down here ?
The answer is, that our white companion had become
simply an intolerable burden. He suffered from the
most exhausting attacks of dysentery, and was quite
helpless. It was, of course, my intention to have
continued my march northward to my old home in
the Cambridge Gulf district, because by this time I
had quite made up my mind that, by living there
quietly, I stood a better chance of escape to civilisa-
tion by means of some vessel than I did by attempt-
ing to traverse the entire continent. This latter idea

294 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

was now rendered impossible, on account of the poor,
helpless creature I had with me. Indeed, so great an
anxiety was he to me and Yamba, that we decided we
could go nowhere, either north or south, until he had
become more robust in health. Needless to say, I
never intrusted him with a weapon.

I had found a sheath-knife belonging to him, but I
afterwards gave it away to a friendly chief, who was
immensely proud of it.

In making for the shores of the big lagoon we had
to traverse some extremely difficult country. In the
first place, we encountered a series of very broken
ridges, which in parts proved so hard to travel over
that I almost gave up in despair. At times there was
nothing for it but to carry on my back the poor,
feeble creature who, I felt, was now intrusted to my
charge and keeping. I remember that native chiefs
frequently suggested that I should leave him, but I
never listened to this advice for a moment. Perhaps I
was not altogether disinterested, because already my
demented companion was looked upon as a kind of
minor deity by the natives. I may here remark that I
only knew two idiots during the whole of my sojourn.
One of these had fallen from a tree through a branch
breaking, and he was actually maintained at the
expense of the tribe, revered by all, if not actually
worshipped.

But the journey I was just describing was a fearful
trial. Sometimes we had to traverse a wilderness of
rocks which stood straight up and projected at sharp
angles, presenting at a distance the appearance of a
series of stony terraces which were all but impassable.
For a long time our charge wore both shirt and

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 295

trousers, but eventually we had to discard the latter
— or perhaps it would be more correct to say, that the
garment was literally torn to shreds by the spinifex.
At one time I had it in my mind to make him go
naked like myself, but on consideration I thought it
advisable to allow him to retain his shirt, at any rate
for a time, as his skin was not so inured to the burn-
ing sun as my own.

We had to provide him with food, which he
accepted, of course, without gratitude. Then Yamba
had always to build him a shelter wherever we
camped, so that far from being an invaluable assist-
ance and a companion he was a burden — so great
that, in moments of depression, I regretted not having
left him to die. As it was, he would often have
gone to his death in the great deserts were it not for
the ever- vigilant Bruno. Still, I always thought that
some day I would be able to take the man back to
civilisation, and there find out who he was and
whence he had come. And I hoped that people
would think I had been kind to him. At first I
thought the unfortunate man was suffering from
sunstroke, and that in course of time he would regain
his reason. I knew I could do very little towards
his recovery except by feeding him well. Fortunately
the natives never called upon him to demonstrate
before them the extraordinary powers which I attrib-
uted to him. Indeed his strange gestures, antics,
and babblings were sufficient in themselves to
convince the blacks that he was a creature to be
reverenced. The remarkable thing about him was
that he never seemed to take notice of any one,
whether it were myself, Yamba, or a native chief. As

296 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

a rule, his glance would " go past me," so to speak,
and he was for ever wandering aimlessly about,
chattering and gesticulating.

We placed no restrictions upon him, and supplied
all his wants, giving him Bruno as a guide and pro-
tector. I must say that Yamba did not like the
stranger, but for my sake she was wonderfully patient
with him.

It was whilst living on the shores of this lagoon
that I received a very extraordinary commission from
a neighbouring tribe. Not long after my arrival
I heard a curious legend, to the effect that away
on the other side of the lagoon there was an " evil
spirit " infesting the waters, which terrified the women
when they went down to fill their skins. Well,
naturally enough, the fame of the white man and his
doings soon got abroad in that country, and I was
one day invited by the tribe in question to go and rid
them of the evil spirit. Accordingly, accompanied by
Yamba, and leaving Bruno to look after our helpless
companion, we set off in response to the invitation,
and in a few days reached the camp of the blacks who
had sent for me. The lagoon was here surrounded by
a finely-wooded country, slightly mountainous. Perhaps
I ought to have stated that I had already gleaned
from the mail-men, or runners, who had been sent
with the message, that the waters of the lagoon in the
vicinity of the camp had long been disturbed by some
huge fish or monster, whose vagaries were a constant
source of terror. The dreaded creature would come
quite close inshore, and then endeavour to " spear "
the women with what was described as a long weapon
carried in its mouth. This, then, was the evil spirit

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 297

of the lagoon, and I confess it puzzled me greatly. I
thought it probable that it was merely a large fish
which had descended in a rain-cloud among countless
millions of others of smaller species. I looked upon
the commission, however, as a good opportunity for
displaying my powers and impressing the natives in
that country — I always had the utmost confidence
in myself. Before setting out I had spent some little
time in completing my preparations for the capture of
the strange monster.

The very afternoon I arrived I went down to the
shores of the lagoon with all the natives, and had not
long to wait before I beheld what was apparently a
huge fish careering wildly and erratically hither and
thither in the water. On seeing it the natives
appeared tremendously excited, and they danced and
yelled, hoping thereby to drive the creature away.
My first move was in the nature of an experiment —
merely with the object of getting a better view of the
monster. I endeavoured to angle for it with a hook
made out of a large piece of sharpened bone. I then
produced large nets made out of strips of green hide
and stringy-bark rope. Placing these on the shores
of the lagoon, I directed Yamba to build a little bark
canoe just big enough to hold her and me.

At length we embarked and paddled out a few
hundred yards, when we threw the net overboard.
It had previously been weighted, and now floated so
that it promptly expanded to its utmost capacity. No
sooner had we done this than the invisible monster
charged down upon us, making a tremendous com-
motion in the water. Neither Yamba nor I waited
for the coming impact, but threw ourselves overboard

298 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

just as the creature's white sawlike weapon showed
itself close to the surface only a few yards away.
We heard a crash, and then, looking backward as
we swam, saw that the long snout of the fish had
actually pierced both sides of the canoe, whilst his
body was evidently entangled in the meshes of the
net. So desperate had been the charge that our
little craft was now actually a serious encumbrance to
the monster. It struggled madly to free itself, leap-
ing almost clear of the water and lashing the placid
lagoon into a perfect maelstrom.

Several times the canoe was lifted high out of the
water ; and then the fish would try to drag it under-
neath, but was prevented by its great buoyancy. In
the meantime Yamba and I swam safely ashore, and
watched the struggles of the " evil spirit " from the
shore, among a crowd of frantic natives.

We waited until the efforts of the fish grew feebler,
and then put off" in another bark canoe (the celerity
with which Yamba made one was something amazing),
when I easily despatched the now weakened creature
with my tomahawk, I might here mention that this
was actually the first time that these inland savages
had seen a canoe or boat of any description, so that
naturally the two I launched occasioned endless
amazement.

Afterwards, by the way, I tried to describe to
them what the sea was like, but had to give it up,
because it only confused them, and was quite beyond
their comprehension. When we dragged the monster
ashore, with its elongated snout still embedded in the
little canoe, I saw at a glance that the long-dreaded
evil spirit of the lagoon was a huge sawfish, fully

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 299

fourteen feet long, its formidable saw alone measuring
nearly five feet. This interesting weapon I claimed
as a trophy, and when I got back to where Bruno
and his human charge were, I exhibited it to crowds
of admiring blacks, who had long heard of the evil
spirit. The great fish itself was cooked and eaten at
one of the biggest corroborees I had ever seen. The
blacks had no theory of their own (save the super-
stitious one), as to how it got into the lagoon ; and
the only supposition I can offer is, that it must have
been brought thither, when very small and young,
either by a rain-cloud or at some unusually big flood
time.

So delighted were the blacks at the service I had
done them, that they paid me the greatest compliment
in their power by offering me a chieftainship, and
inviting me to stay with them for ever. I refused
the flattering offer, however, as I was quite bent on
getting back to Cambridge Gulf.

On returning to my friends on the other side of
the lagoon I learned for the first time that there was
a half-caste girl living among them ; and subsequent
inquiries went to prove that her father was a white
man who had penetrated into these regions and lived
for some little time at least among the blacks — much
as I myself was doing. My interest in the matter
was first of all roused by the accidental discovery of
a cairn five feet or six feet high, made of loose flat
stones. My experience was such by this time that
I saw at a glance this cairn was not the work of
a native. Drawings and figures, and a variety of
curious characters, were faintly discernible on some of
the stones, but were not distinct enough to be legible.

300 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

On one, however, I distinctly traced the initials "L. L.,"
which had withstood the ravages of time because
the stone containing them was in a protected place.

AN ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY

Naturally the existence of this structure set me
inquiring among the older natives as to whether they
ever remembered seeing a white man before ; and
then I learned that perhaps twenty years previously

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 301

a man like myself had made his appearance in those
regions, and had died a few months afterwards,
before the wife who, according to custom, was allotted
to him had given birth to the half-caste baby girl,
who was now a woman before me. They never knew
the white stranger's name, nor where he had come
from. The girl, by the way, was by no means good-
looking, and her skin was decidedly more black than
white ; I could tell by her hand, however, that she
was a half-caste.

On the strength of our supposed affinity, she was
offered to me as a wife, and I accepted her, more as
a help for Yamba than anything else ; she was called
Luigi. Yamba, by the way, was anxious that I
should possess at least half-a-dozen wives, partly
because this circumstance would be more in keeping
with my rank ; but I did not fall in with the idea.
I had quite enough to do already to maintain my
authority among the tribe at large, and did not care
to have to rule in addition half-a-dozen women in
my own establishment. This tribe always lingers
in my memory, on account of the half-caste girl,
whom I now believe to have been the daughter of
Ludwig Leichhardt, the lost Australian explorer.
Mr. Giles says : " Ludwig Leichhardt was a surgeon
and botanist, who successfully conducted an expedi-
tion from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, on the
northern coast. A military and penal settlement had
been established at Port Essington by the Govern-
ment of New South Wales, to which colony the
whole territory then belonged. At this settlement —
the only point of relief after eighteen months' travel
— Leichhardt and his exhausted party arrived.

302 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

" Of Leichhardt's sad fate, in the interior of
Australia, no certain tidings have ever been heard.
I, who have wandered into and returned alive from
the curious regions he attempted and died to explore,
have unfortunately never come across a single record,
nor any remains or traces of the party."

Leichhardt started on his last sad venture with a
party of eight, including one or two native black-
boys. They had with them about twenty head of
bullocks broken in to carry pack loads. " My first
and second expeditions," says Giles, " were conducted
entirely with horses, but in all subsequent journeys
I was accompanied by camels." His object, like that
of Leichhardt, was to force his way across the
thousand miles of country that lay untrodden and
unknown between the Australian telegraph line and
the settlements upon the Swan River. And Giles
remarks that the exploration of lOOO miles in
Australia is equal to at least io,ooo miles on any
other part of the earth's surface — always excepting
the Poles.

I continued residing on the shores of the lagoon
in the hope that my patient would eventually get
better, when I proposed continuing my journey north.
I was still quite unable to understand his babblings,
although he was for ever mentioning the names of
persons and places unknown to me ; and he constantly
spoke about some exploring party. He never asked
me questions, nor did he get into serious trouble with
the natives, being privileged. He never developed
any dangerous vices, but was simply childlike and
imbecile.

Gradually I had noticed that, instead of becoming

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 303

stronger, he was fading away. He was constantly
troubled with a most distressing complaint, and in
addition to this he would be seized with fits of
depression, when he would remain in his hut for
days at a time without venturing out. I always
knew what was the matter with him when he was
not to be seen. Sometimes I would go in to try and
cheer him up, but usually it was a hopeless effort on
my part.

Of course he had a wife given him, and this young
person seemed to consider him quite an ordinary
specimen of the white man. Indeed, she was vastly
flattered, rather than otherwise, by the attentions
lavished upon her husband by her people. One
reason for this treatment was that she was considered
a privileged person to be related in any way to one
whom the natives regarded as almost a demi-god. She
looked after him too, and kept his hut as clean as
possible. One morning something happened. The
girl came running for me to go to her hut, and there
lay the mysterious stranger apparently stretched out
for dead. I soon realised that he was in a fit of
some kind.

I now approach the momentous time when this
unfortunate man recovered his senses. When he
regained consciousness after the fit Yamba and I were
with him, and so was his wife. I had not seen him
for some days, and was much shocked at the change
that had taken place. He was ghastly pale and very
much emaciated. I knew that death was at hand.
Just as he regained consciousness — I can see the
picture now ; yes, we were all around his fragrant
couch of eucalyptus leaves, waiting for him to open

304 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

his eyes — he gazed at me in a way that thrilled me
strangely, and / knew I was looking at a sane white
man. His first questions were " Where am I ? Who
are you ? " Eager and trembling I knelt down beside
him and told him the long and strange story of how
I had found him, and how he had now been living
with me nearly two years. I pointed out to him our
faithful Bruno, who had often taken him for long
walks and brought him back safely, and who had so
frequently driven away from him deadly snakes, and
warned him when it was time to turn back. I told
him he was in the centre of Australia ; and then I
told in brief my own extraordinary story. I sent
Yamba to our shelter for the letter I had found in
his tracks, and read it aloud to him. He never
told me who the writer of it was. He listened
to all I had to tell him with an expression of
amazement, which soon gave place to one of weari-
ness— the weariness of utter weakness. He asked
me to carry him outside into the sun, and I did so,
afterwards squatting down beside him and opening
up another conversation. He then told me his name
was Gibson, and that he had been a member of the Giles
Expedition of 1874. From that moment I never left
him night or day. He told me much about that
expedition which I can never reveal, for I do not
know whether he was lying or raving. Poor, vulgar.
Cockney Gibson ! He seemed to know full well that
he was dying, and the thought seemed to please him
rather than otherwise. He appeared to me to be too
tired, too weary to live — that was the predominant
symptom.

I introduced Yamba to him, and we did everything

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 305

we possibly could to cheer him, but he gradually sank
lower and lower. I would say, " Cheer up, Gibson.
Why, when you are able to walk we will make tracks
straightway for civilisation. I am sure you know the
way, for now you are as right as I am." But
•nothing interested the dying man. Shortly before
the end his eyes assumed a strained look, and I
could see he was rapidly going. The thought of his
approaching end was to me a relief; it would be
untrue if I were to say otherwise. For weeks past
I had seen that the man could not live, and consider-
ing that every day brought its battle for life, you will
readily understand that this poor helpless creature
was a terrible burden to me. He had such a tender
skin that at all times I was obliged to keep him
clothed. For some little time his old shirt and
trousers did duty, but at length I was compelled to
make him a suit of skins. Of course, we had no
soap with which to wash his garments, but we used
to clean them after a fashion by dumping them down
into a kind of greasy mud and then trampling on
them, afterwards rinsing them out in water. More-
over, his feet were so tender that I always had to
keep him shod with skin sandals.

His deathbed was a dramatic scene — especially
under the circumstances. Poor Gibson! To think
that he should have escaped death after those fearful
waterless days and nights in the desert, to live for
two years with a white protector, and yet then die of
a wasting and distressing disease !

He spent the whole day in the open air, for he
was very much better when in the sun. At night
I carried him back into his hut, and laid him in

3o6 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

the hammock which I had long ago slung for him.
Yamba knew he was dying even before I did, but
she could do nothing.

We tried the effect of the curious herb called
" pitchori," but it did not revive him. " Pitchori,"
by the way, is a kind of leaf which the natives chew
in moments of depression ; it has an exhilarating
effect upon them.

On the last day I once more made up a bed of
eucalyptus leaves and rugs on the floor of Gibson's
hut. Surrounding him at the last were his wife —
a very good and faithful girl — Yamba, myself, and
Bruno — who, by the way, knew perfectly well that
his friend was dying. He kept licking poor Gibson's
hand and chest, and then finding no response would
nestle up close to him for half-an-hour at a time.
Then the affectionate creature would retire outside
and set up a series of low, melancholy howls, only
to run in again with hope renewed.

Poor Gibson ! The women-folk were particularly
attached to him because he never went out with the
men, or with me, on my various excursions, but
remained behind in their charge. Sometimes, how-
ever, he would follow at our heels as faithfully and
instinctively as Bruno himself For the past two
years Bruno and Gibson had been inseparable, sleeping
together at night, and never parting for a moment the
whole day long. Indeed, I am sure Bruno became
more attached to Gibson than he was to me. And
so Gibson did not, as I at one time feared he
would, pass away into the Great Beyond, carrying
with him the secret of his identity. Looking at
him as he lay back among the eucalyptus leaves,

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 307

pale and emaciated, I knew the end was now very
near.

I knelt beside him holding his hand, and at length,
with a great effort, he turned towards me and said
feebly, " Can you hear anything ? " I listened in-
tently, and at last was compelled to reply that I did
not. " Well," he said, " I hear some one talking.
I think the voices of m}' friends are calling me."
I fancied that the poor fellow was wandering in his
mind again, but still his eyes did not seem to have
that vacant gaze I had previously noticed in them.
He was looking steadily at me, and seemed to
divine my thoughts, for he smiled sadly and said,
" No, I know what I am saying. I can hear them
singing, and they are calling me away. They have
come for me at last ! " His thin face brightened up
with a slow, sad smile, which soon faded away, and
then, giving my hand a slight pressure, he whispered
almost in my ear, as I bent over him, " Good-bye,
comrade, I'm off. You will come too, some day."
A slight shiver, and Gibson passed peacefully
away.

CHAPTER XV

Lost in the desert — Gibson's dying advice — Giles meets Gibson — A
fountain in the desert — A terrible fix — -Giles regains his camp —
Gibson's effects — Mysterious tracks — A treasured possession — A
perfect paradise — Grape vines a failure — A trained cockatoo — An
extraordinary festival — My theory of the "ghosts."

AFTER the funeral his wife followed out the usual
I~\ native conventions. She covered herself with
pipeclay for about one month. She also mourned
and howled for the prescribed three days, and gashed
her head with stone knives, until the blood poured
down her face. Gibson's body was not buried in the
earth, but embalmed with clay and leaves, and laid
on a rock-shelf in a cave.

The general belief was that Gibson had merely gone
back to the Spirit Land from whence he had come, and
that, as he was a great and good man, he would return
to earth in the form of a bird — perhaps an ibis, which
was very high indeed. I must say I never attached
very much importance to what he said, even in his
sane moments, because he was obviously a man of low
intelligence and no culture. If I remember rightly, he
told me that the expedition to which he was attached
left Adelaide with the object of going overland to Fre-
mantle. It was thoroughly well equipped, and for a

long time everything went well with the party. One

308

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES 309

day, whilst some of them were off exploring on their
own account, he lost himself.

He rather thought that the sun must have affected
his brain even then, because he didn't try to find his
companions that night, but went to sleep quite con-
tentedly under a tree. He realised the horror of his
position keenly enough the next morning, however,
and rode mile after mile without halting for food or
water, in the hope of quickly regaining his friends
at the chief camp. But night stole down upon him
once more, and he was still a lonely wanderer, half
delirious with thirst ; the supply he had carried with
him had long since given out.

Next morning, when he roused himself, he found
that his horse had wandered away and got lost. After
this he had only a vague recollection of what happened.
Prompted by some strange, unaccountable impulse, he
set out on a hopeless search for water, and went walk-
ing on and on until all recollection faded away, and he
remembered no more. How long he had been lost
when I found him he could not say, because he knew
absolutely nothing whatever about his rescue. So far
as I remember, he was a typical specimen of the Aus-
tralian pioneer — a man of fine physique, with a full
beard and a frank, but unintelligent, countenance. He
was perhaps five feet nine inches in height, and about
thirty years of age. When I told him the story of my
adventures he was full of earnest sympathy for me,
and told me that if ever I intended leaving those
regions for civilisation again, my best plan would be
to steer more south-east, as it was in that direction
that Adelaide lay.

He also informed me that the great trans-Con-

310 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

tinental telegraph wire was being constructed from
north to south. This he advised me to strike and
follow to civilisation.

I may be permitted a little digression here to give
a few extracts from Giles's book, "Australia Twice
Traversed " (Sampson Low & Company), for this
contains the version of the leader of the expedition
himself as to the circumstances under which Gibson

was lost. In all, it seems,
Giles made five exploring
expeditions into and through
Central South Australia and
Western Australia from 1872
to 1876. Speaking of his
second expedition, Mr. Giles
says : "I had informed my
friend, Baron Von Mueller,
by wire from the Charlotte
Waters Telegraph station, of
the failure and break-up of
my first expedition, and he
set to work and obtained new
funds for me to continue my
labours. I reached Adelaide
late in January 1873, and got my party together.
We left early in March of 1873, and journeyed leisurely
up-country to Beltana, then past the Finnis Springs
to the Gregory. We then journeyed up to the Peake,
where we were welcomed by Messrs. Bagot at the
Cattle Station, and Mr. Blood of the Telegraph Depart-
ment. Here we fixed up all our packs, sold Bagot
the waggon, and bought horses and other things. We
now had twenty pack-horses and four riding-horses,"

MR. ERNEST GILES

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF

311

We next come to the introduction of Gibson.
" Here a short young man accosted me, and asked
me if I didn't remember him. He said he was * Alf.'
I thought I knew his face, but I thought it was at
the Peake that I had seen him ; but he said, ' Oh,
no ! Don't you remember Alf, with Bagot's sheep
at the north-west bend of the Murray ? My name's
Alf Gibson, and I want to go out with you.' I
said, ' Well, can you shoe ?
Can you ride ? Can you
starve ? Can you go with-
out water ? And how would
you like to be speared by
the blacks ? He said he
could do everything I had
mentioned, and he wasn't
afraid of the blacks. He
was not a man I would have
picked out of a mob, but
men were scarce, and he
seemed so anxious to come,
so I agreed to take him.

"Thus, the expedition con-
sisted of four persons —

myself (Ernest Giles), Mr. William Henry Tietkins,
Alf Gibson, and James Andrews ; with twenty-four
horses and two little dogs. On Monday, 4th August,
we finally left the encampment."

Now here is the passage in which Mr. Giles de-
scribes his dramatic parting with Gibson. It will
be found in the chapter marked "20th April to 21st
May 1874": "Gibson and I departed for the West.
I rode the ' Fair Maid of Perth.' I gave Gibson the

MR. W. H. TIETKINS

312 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

big ambling horse, ' Badger,' and we packed the big
cob with a pair of water-bags that contained twenty
gallons. As we rode away, I was telling Gibson
about various exploring expeditions and their fate,
and he said, ' How is it that, in all these exploring
expeditions, a lot of people go and die ? ' He said,
* I shouldn't like to die in this part of the country,
anyhow.'

" We presently had a meal of smoked horse. It
was late when we encamped, and the horses were
much in want of water, — especially the big cob, who
kept coming up to the camp all night and trying to
get at our water-bags. We had one small water-
bag hung in a tree.

"I didn't think of that until my mare came straight
up to it and took it in her teeth, forcing out the cork,
and sending the water up, which we were both dying
to drink, in a beautiful jet. Gibson was now very
sorry he had exchanged ' Badger ' for the cob, as he
found the latter very dull and heavy to get along.
There had been a hot wind from the north all day,
and the following morning (the 23rd of April), there
was a most strange dampness in the air, and I had
a vague feeling, such as must have been felt by
augurs and seers of old, who trembled as they told
events to come ; for this was the last day on which I
ever saw Gibson,

"As Gibson came along after me, he called out
that his horse was going to die. The hills to the
west were twenty-five to thirty miles away, and I
had to give up trying to reach them. How I longed
for a camel ! Gibson's horse was now so bad as to
place both of us in a great dilemma. We turned

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 313

back in our tracks, when the cob refused to carry his
rider any farther, and tried to lie down. We drove
him another mile on foot, and down he fell to die.
My mare, the ' Fair Maid of Perth,' was only too
willing to return, but she had now to carry Gibson's
saddle and things, and away we went, walking and
riding in turns of one half-hour each.

" When we got back to about thirty miles from
a place which I had named ' The Kegs,' I shouted to
Gibson, who was riding, to stop until I walked up to
him. By this time we had hardly a pint of water
left between us.

" We here finished the supply, and I then said, as
I could not speak before, * Look here, Gibson, you
see we are in a most terrible fix, with only one horse.
Only one can ride, and one must remain behind.
I shall remain ; and now listen to me. If the mare
does not get water soon, she will die ; therefore, ride
right on ; get to the Kegs, if possible, to-night, and
give her water. Now that the cob is dead, there'll
be all the more water for her. Early to-morrow you
will sight the Rawlinson, at twenty-five miles from
the Kegs. Stick to the tracks and never leave them.
Leave as much water in one keg for me as you can
afford, after watering the mare and filling up your
own bags ; and, remember, I depend upon you to
bring me relief.'

" Gibson said if he had a compass he thought he
could go better by night. I knew he didn't under-
stand anything about compasses, as I had often tried
to explain them to him. The one I had was a
Gregory's Patent, of a totally different construction
from ordinary instruments of the kind, and I was loth

314 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

to part with it, as it was the only one I had.
However, as he was so anxious for it, I gave it to
him, and away he went. I sent one final shout
after him to stick to the tracks, and he said, 'All
right ! ' and the mare carried him out of sight almost
instantly.

"Gibson had left me with a little over two gallons
of water, which I could have drunk in half-an-hour.
All the food I had was eleven sticks of dirty, sandy,
smoked horse, averaging about an ounce and a half
each.

" On the first of May, as I afterwards found out,
at one o'clock in the morning, I staggered into the
camp, and awoke Mr. Tietkins at daylight. He glared
at me as if I had been one risen from the dead. I
asked him if he had seen Gibson. It was nine days
since I last saw him. The next thing was to find
Gibson's remains. It was the 6th of May when we
got back to where he had left the right line. As
long as he had remained on the other horses' tracks
it was practicable enough to follow him, but the
wretched man had left them and gone away in a far
more southerly direction, having the most difficult
sand-hills to cross at right angles. We found he had
burnt a patch of spinifex where he had left the other
horses' tracks.

** Whether he had made any mistake in steering
by the compass or not it is impossible to say ; but
instead of going east, as he should have done, he
actually went south, or very near it.

** I was sorry to think that the unfortunate man's
last sensible moments must have been embittered by
the thought that, as he had lost himself in the capacity

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 315

of messenger for my relief, I, too, must necessarily
fall a victim to his mishap.

" I called this terrible region, lying between the
Rawlinson Range and the next permanent water that
may eventually be found to the north, ' Gibson's
Desert,' — after this first white victim to its horrors.

" In looking over Gibson's few effects, Mr. Tietkins
and I found an old pocket-book, a drinking-song, and
a certificate of his marriage. He had never told us
he was married."

And now to resume my own narrative. You will
remember that I had settled down for a considerable
time on the shores of the lagoon, where I had made
everything around me as comfortable as possible.
Yamba had no difficulty whatever in keeping us well
supplied with roots and vegetables ; and as kangaroos,
opossums, snakes, and rats abounded, we had an ample
supply of meat, and the lagoon could always be
relied upon to provide us with excellent fish. The
country itself was beautiful in the extreme, with stately
mountains, broad, fertile valleys, extensive forests,
— and, above all, plenty of water. The general mode
of living among the natives was much the same as
that prevailing among the blacks in my own home at
Cambridge Gulf, — although these latter were a vastly
superior race in point of physique, war weapons, and
general intelligence. The people I now found myself
among were of somewhat small stature, with very low
foreheads, protruding chins, high cheek-bones, and
large mouths. Their most noteworthy characteristic
was their extreme childishness, which was especially
displayed on those occasions when I gave an acrobatic
performance. My skill with the bow and arrow was,

3i6 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

as usual, a never-ending source of astonishment. I
was, in fact, credited with such remarkable powers
that all my ingenuity had sometimes to be brought
into play to accomplish, or to pretend to accomplish,
the things expected of me. I knew that I must never
fail in anything I undertook.

In the interior the natives never seemed to grow
very plump, but had a more or less spare, not to say
emaciated, appearance compared with the tribes near
the coast. For one thing, food is not so easily ob-
tainable, nor is it so nourishing. Moreover, the natives
had to go very long distances to procure it.

Besides the low, receding forehead and protruding
chin I have already hinted at as characteristic of the
inland tribes, I also noticed that these people had
abnormally large feet. Also, the beards of the men
were not nearly so full or luxuriant as those of the
blacks at Cambridge Gulf. The average height of the
lagoon tribe was little more than five feet. For
myself, I am about five feet seven and a half inches
in height, and therefore I stalked about among them
like a giant.

Now that Gibson was dead I decided to move my
home farther north, and eventually settled down with
my family (two children — a boy and a girl — had
been born to me during my residence on the shores
of the lagoon) in a beautiful mountainous and tropical
region 200 or 300 miles to the north. It was my
intention only to have made a temporary stay here,
but other ties came, and my little ones were by no
means strong enough to undertake any such formi-
dable journey as I had in contemplation. I also made
the fatal mistake of trying to bring my offspring up

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 317

differently from the other savage children. But I must
relate here an incident that happened on our journey
north. Yamba came to me one day positively quiver-
ing with excitement and terror, and said she had found
some strange tracks, apparently of some enormous
beast — a monster so fearful as to be quite beyond
her knowledge.

She took me to the spot and pointed out the
mysterious tracks, which I saw at once were those
of camels. I do not know why I decided to follow
them, because they must have been some months
old. Probably, I reflected, I might be able to pick
up something on the tracks which would be of use
to me. At any rate, we did follow the tracks for
several days — perhaps a fortnight — and found on
the way many old meat-tins, which afterwards came
in useful as water vessels. One day, however, I
pounced upon an illustrated newspaper — a copy of
the Sydney Town and Country Journal, bearing some
date, I think in 1875 or 1876. It was a complete
copy with the outer cover. I remember it contained
some pictures of horse-racing — I believe at Paramatta ;
but the " Long Lost Relative " column interested me
most, for the very moment I found the paper I sat
down in the bush and began to read this part with
great eagerness. I could read English fairly well by
this time, and as Yamba was also tolerably familiar
with the language, I read the paper aloud to her, I
cannot say she altogether understood what she heard,
but she saw that I was intensely interested and de-
lighted, and so she was quite content to stay there
and listen. You will observe that in all cases, the
very fact that / was pleased was enough for Yamba,

3i8 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

who never once wavered in her fideHty and affection.
Altogether we spent some weeks following up these
tracks, but, of course, never came up with the caravan
of camels, which must have been some months ahead
of us. Yamba at length appeared to be a good deal
wearied at my persistency in following up the tracks
in this way ; but after all, was it not merely killing
time ? — a mild sort of sensation which served to
break the eternal monotony that sometimes threatened
to crush me.

How I treasured that soiled copy of the Town and
Country — as it is familiarly called in Sydney ! I read
and re-read it, and then read it all over again until I
think I could have repeated every line of it by heart,
even to the advertisements. Among the latter, by
the way, was one inserted apparently by an anxious
mother seeking information concerning a long-lost
son ; and this pathetic paragraph set me wondering
about my own mother. " Well," I thought, " she at
least has no need to advertise, and I have the satis-
faction of knowing that she must by this time be
quite reconciled to my loss, and have given me up
as dead long ago." Strangely enough, this thought
quite reconciled me to my exile. In fact, I thanked
Providence that my disappearance had been so com-
plete and so prolonged as to leave not the slightest
cause for doubt or hope on the part of any of my
relatives. Had I for a moment imagined that my
mother was still cherishing hopes of seeing me again
some day, and that she was undergoing agonies of
mental suspense and worry on my behalf, I think I
would have risked everything to reach her. But I
knew quite well that she must have heard of the loss

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 319

of the Veielland, and long ago resigned herself to the
certainty of my death. I can never hope to describe
the curious dehght with which I perused my precious
newspaper. I showed the pictures in it to my chil-
dren and the natives, and they were more than
delighted, — especially with the pictures of horses in
the race at Paramatta. In the course of time the
sheets of paper began to get torn, and then I made a
pretty durable cover out of kangaroo hide. Thus the
whole of my library consisted of my Anglo-French
Testament, and the copy of the Town and Country
Journal.

But I have purposely kept until the end the most
important thing in connection with this strangely-
found periodical. The very first eager and feverish
reading gave me an extraordinary shock, which actu-
ally threatened my reason ! In a prominent place in
the Journal I came across the following passage : " The
Deputies of Alsace and Lorraine have refused to vote in
the German Reichstag^

Now, knowing nothing whatever of the sanguinary
war of 1870, or of the alterations in the map of
Europe which it entailed, this passage filled me with
startled amazement. I read it over and over again,
getting more bewildered each time. " The Deputies
of Alsace and Lorraine have refused to vote in the
German Reichstag ! " " But — good heavens ! " I
almost screamed to myself, ^^ what were the Alsace
and Lorraine Deputies doing in the German Parlia-
ment at all ? " I turned the matter over and over in
my mind, and at last, finding that I was getting
worked up into a state of dangerous excitement, I
threw the paper from me and walked away. I

320 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

thought over the matter again, and so utterly incom-
prehensible did it appear to me that I thought I must
be mistaken — that my eyes must have deceived me.
Accordingly I ran back and picked the paper up a
second time, and there, sure enough, was the same
passage. In vain did I seek for any sane explana-
tion, and at last I somehow got it into my head that
the appearance of the printed characters must be
due to a kind of mental obliquity, and that I must be
rapidly going mad ! Even Yamba could not sympa-
thise with me, because the matter was one which I
never could have made her understand. I tried to
put this strange puzzle out of my head, but again and
again the accursed and torturing passage would ring
in my ears until I nearly went crazy. But I presently
put the thing firmly from me, and resolved to think
no more about it.

It is not an exaggeration to describe my mountain
home in the centre of the continent as a perfect para-
dise. The grasses and ferns there grew to a prodigious
height, and there were magnificent forests of white
gum and eucalyptus. Down in the valley I built a
spacious house — the largest the natives had ever
seen. It was perhaps twenty feet long, sixteen feet
to eighteen feet wide, and about ten feet high. The
interior was decorated with ferns, war implements,
the skins of various animals, and last — but by no
means least — the "sword" of the great sawfish I
had killed in the haunted lagoon. This house con-
tained no fireplace, because all the cooking was done
in the open air. The walls were built of rough logs,
the crevices being filled in with earth taken from
ant-hills. I have just said that / built the house.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 321

This is, perhaps, not strictly correct. It was Yamba
and the- other women-folk who actually carried out
the work, under my supervision. Here it is neces-
sary to explain that I did not dare to do much
manual labour, because it would have been con-
sidered undignified on my part. I really did not
want the house ; but, strangely enough, I felt much
more comfortable when it was built and furnished,
because, after all, it was a source of infinite satis-
faction to me to feel that I had a home I could
call my own. I had grown very weary of" living
like an animal in the bush, and lying down to sleep
at night on the bare ground. It was this same con-
sideration of " home " that induced me to build a little
hut for poor Gibson.

The floor of my house was two or three feet above
the ground in order to escape the ravages of the rats.
There was only one storey, of course, and the whole
was divided into two rooms — one as a kind of sitting-
room and the other as a bedroom. The former I fitted
out with home-made tables and chairs (I had become
pretty expert from my experience with the girls) ; and
each day fresh eucalyptus leaves were strewed about,
partly for cleanliness, and partly because the odour
kept away the mosquitoes. I also built another house
about two days' tramp up the mountains, and to this
we usually resorted in the very hot weather.

Now here I have a curious confession to make.
As the months glided into years, and I reviewed
the whole of my strange life since the days when I
went pearling with Jensen, the thought began gradu-
ally to steal into my mind, " Why not wait until
civilisation comes to you — as it must do in time ?

322 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

Why weary yourself any more with incessant struggles
to get back to the world — especially when you are
so comfortable here ? " Gradually, then, I settled
down and was made absolute chief over a tribe of
perhaps five hundred souls. Besides this, my fame
spread abroad into the surrounding country, and at
every new moon I held a sort of informal reception,
which was attended by deputations of tribesmen for
hundreds of miles around. My own tribe already
possessed a chieftain of their own, but my position
was one of even greater influence than his. More-
over, I was appointed to it without having to undergo
the painful ceremonies that initiation entails. My im-
munity in this respect was of course owing to my
supposed great powers, and the belief that I was a
returned spirit. I was always present at tribal and
war councils, and also had some authority over other
tribes.

I adopted every device I could think of to make
my dwelling home-like, and I even journeyed many
miles in a NNE. direction, to procure cuttings of
grape vines I had seen ; but I must say that this at
any rate was labour in vain, because I never improved
upon the quality of the wild grapes, which had a
sharp, acid flavour, that affected the throat somewhat
unpleasantly until one got used to them.

When I speak of my " mountain home," it must
not be supposed that I remained in one place. As a
matter of fact, in accordance with my usual practice,
I took long excursions in different directions extending
over weeks and even months at a time. On these
occasions I always took with me a kind of nut, which,
when eaten, endowed one with remarkable powers of

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 323

vitality and endurance. Since my return to civilisation
1 have heard of the Kola nut, but cannot say whether
the substance used by the Australian aboriginal is
the same or not. I remember we generally roasted
ours, and ate it as we tramped along. In the course
of my numerous journeys abroad I blazed or marked
a great number of trees ; my usual mark being an
oval, in or underneath which I generally carved the
letter " L." I seldom met with hostile natives in
this region, but when I did my mysterious bow
and arrows generally sufficed to impress them. By
the way, I never introduced the bow as a weapon
among the blacks, and they, on their part, never tried
to imitate me. They are a conservative race, and are
perfectly satisfied with their own time-honoured
weapons.

Wild geese and ducks were plentiful in those
regions, and there was an infinite variety of game.
From this you will gather that our daily fare was
both ample and luxurious.

And we had pets ; I remember I once caught a
live cockatoo, and trained him to help me in my
hunting expeditions. I taught him a few English
phrases, such as " Good-morning," and " How are
you ? " ; and he would perch himself on a tree and
attract great numbers of his kind around him by his
incessant chattering. I would then knock over as
many as I wanted by means of my bow and arrows.
At this time, indeed, I had quite a menagerie of
animals, including a tame kangaroo. Naturally
enough, I had ample leisure to study the ethnology
of my people. I soon made the discovery that my
blacks were intensely spiritualistic ; and once a year

324 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

they held a festival which, when described, will,
I am afraid, tax the credulity of my readers. The
festival I refer to was held " when the sun was born
again," — i.e.^ soon after the shortest day of the year,
which would be sometime in June. On these occa-
sions the adult warriors from far and near assembled
at a certain spot, and after a course of festivities,
sat down to an extraordinary seance conducted by
women — very old, wizened witches — who apparently
possessed occult powers, and were held in great
veneration. These witches are usually maintained at
the expense of the tribe. The office, however, does
not necessarily descend from mother to daughter, it
being only women credited with supernatural powers
who can claim the position.

After the great corroboree the people would squat
on the ground, the old men and warriors in front,
the women behind, and the children behind them.
The whole congregation was arranged in the form
of a crescent, in the centre of which a large fire
would be" set burning. Some of the warriors would
then start chanting, and their monotonous sing-song
would presently be taken up by the rest of the
gathering, to the accompaniment of much swaying of
heads and beating of hands and thighs. The young
warriors then went out into the open and commenced
to dance.

I may as well describe in detail the first of these
extraordinary festivals which I witnessed. The men
chanted and danced themselves into a perfect frenzy,
which was still further increased by the appearance
of three or four witches who suddenly rose up before
the fire. They were very old and haggard-looking

AN EXTRAORDINARY FESTIVAL

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES 327

creatures, with skins like shrivelled parchment ; they
had scanty, dishevelled hair, and piercing, beady eyes.
They were not ornamented in any way, and seemed
more like skeletons from a tomb than human beings.
After they had gyrated wildly round the fire for
a short time, the chant suddenly ceased, and the
witches fell prostrate upon the ground, calling out as
they did so the names of some departed chiefs. A
deathly silence then fell on the assembled gathering,
and all eyes were turned towards the wreaths of
smoke that were ascending into the evening sky. The
witches presently renewed their plaintive cries and
exhortations, and at length I was amazed to see
strange shadowy forms shaping themselves in the
smoke. At first they were not very distinct, but
gradually they assumed the form of human beings,
and then the blacks readily recognised them as one
or other of their long-departed chiefs — estimable men
always and great fighters. The baser sort never put
in an appearance.

Now the first two or three times I saw this weird
and fantastic ceremony, I thought the apparitions
were the result of mere trickery.

But when I saw them year after year, I came to
the conclusion that they must be placed in the cate-
gory of those things which are beyond the ken of
our philosophy. I might say that no one was allowed
to approach sufficiently close to touch the "ghosts,"
— if such they can be termed ; and probably even if
permission had been granted, the blacks would have
been in too great a state of terror to have availed
themselves of it.

Each of these seances lasted twenty minutes or

328 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

half-an-hour, and were mainly conducted in silence.
While the apparitions were visible, the witches re-
mained prostrate, and the people looked on quite
spellbound. Gradually the phantoms would melt away
again in the smoke, and vanish from sight, after which
the assembly would disperse in silence. By next
morning all the invited blacks would have gone off
to their respective homes. The witches, as I after-
wards learnt, lived alone in caves ; and that they
possessed wonderful powers of prophecy was evidenced
in my own case, because they told me when I came
among them that I would still be many years with
their people, but I would eventually return to my
own kind. The warriors, too, invariably consulted
these oracles before departing on hunting or fighting
expeditions, and religiously followed their advice.

CHAPTER XVI

A teacher of English — Myself as a black-fellow — I rest content — An
unknown terror — Manufacture of gunpowder — A curious find — •
The fiery raft — In the lair of snakes — A dangerous enemy — An
exciting scene — A queer sport — Respect for the victor — A vain
hope — Sore disappointment — Vamba in danger — A strange duel
— My opponent greets me.

MY two children were a source of great delight to
me at this time, — although of course they were
half-castes, the colour of their skin being very little
different from that of their mother. The whiteness
of their hands and finger-nails, however, clearly indi-
cated their origin. They were not christened in the
Christian way, neither were they brought up exactly
in the same way as the native children.

I taught them English. I loved them very dearly,
and used to make for them a variety of gold orna-
ments, such as bangles and armlets. They did not
participate in all the rough games of the black
children, yet they were very popular, having winning
manners, and being very quick to learn. I often told
them about my life in other parts of the world ; but
whenever I spoke of civilisation, I classed all the
nations of the universe together, and referred to them
as " my home," or " my country." I did not attempt to
distinguish between France and Switzerland, England

330 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

and America. Curiously enough, the subject that in-
terested them most was the animal kingdom, and
when I told them that I hoped some day to take
them away with me to see my great country and the
animals it contained, they were immensely delighted.
Particularly they wanted to see the horse, the lion,
and the elephant. Taking a yam-stick as pointer, I
would often draw roughly in the sand almost every
animal in Nature. But even when these rough de-
signs were made for my admiring audience, I found
it extremely difficult to convey an idea of the part
in the economy of Nature which each creature played.
I would tell them, however, that the horse was used
for fighting purposes and for travel ; that the cow
yielded food and drink, and that the dogs drew
sledges. It was absolutely necessary to dwell only
on the utilitarian side of things. Beasts of burden
would be incomprehensible. Both of my children
were very proud of my position among and influence
over the blacks.

And really I looked like a black-fellow myself at
this time — not so much on account of exposure, as
because my body was constantly coated with the
charcoal and grease which serves as a protection
from the weather and from insects. My children,
you may be interested to learn, never grasped the
fact that m3' exile was other than quite voluntary
on my part.

The children of the blacks continued to interest
me as much as ever (I was always fond of children) ;
and I never grew tired of watching them at their
quaint little games. I think they all loved me as
much as I did them, and I was glad to see that their

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 331

lives were one long dream of happiness. They had
no school to attend, no work to perform, and no
punishment to suffer. There are no children like the
children of the bush for perfect contentment. They
seldom or never quarrelled, and were all day long
playing happily about the camp, practising throwing
their reed spears ; climbing the trees after the honey-
pods, and indulging in a thousand and one merry
pranks. Often and often I looked at those robust
little rascals, and compared them sadly with my own
children, who were delicate almost from birth, and
who caused me so much anxiety and heartache.

When the combination of circumstances, which is
now well known to my readers, caused me to settle
in my mountain home, two or three hundred miles
to the north of Gibson's Desert, I had no idea that
I should remain there for many years.

But strangely enough, as year after year slipped
by, the desire to return to civilisation seemed to leave
me, and I grew quite content with my lot. Gradually
I began to feel that if civilisation — represented, say,
by a large caravan — were to come to me, and its
leader was willing not merely to take me away, but
my wife and children also, then indeed I would con-
sent to go ; but for no other consideration could I be
induced to leave those who were now so near and
dear to me. I may as well mention here that I had
many chances of returning alone to civilisation, but
never availed myself of them. As I spent the greater
part of twenty years in my mountain home, it stands
to reason that it is this part of my career which I con-
sult for curious and remarkable incidents.

One day a great darkness suddenly came over the

332 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

face of Nature. The sombre gloom was relieved only
by a strange lurid glare, which hung on the distant
horizon far away across that weird land. The air
was soon filled with fine ashes, which descended in
such quantities as to cover all vegetation, and com-
pletely hide exposed water-holes and lagoons. Even
at the time I attributed the phenomenon to volcanic
disturbance, and I have since found that it was
most likely due to an eruption of the volcano of
Krakatoa. This visitation occasioned very great
consternation among the superstitious blacks, who
concluded that the spirits had been angered by
some of their own misdeeds, and were manifesting
their wrath in this unpleasant way. I did not
attempt to enlighten them as to its true cause, but
gave them to understand vaguely that / had some-
thing to do with it. I also told them that the great
spirit, whose representative I was, was burning up
the land.

Another phenomenon that caused much mystifica-
tion and terror was an eclipse of the sun. Never
have I seen my blacks in such a state of excite-
ment and terror as when that intense darkness came
suddenly over the world at midday. They came
crowding instinctively to me, and I stood silent among
the cowering creatures, not thinking it politic for a
moment to break the strange and appalling stillness
that prevailed on every hand — and which extended
even to the animal world. The trembling blacks were
convinced that night had suddenly descended upon
them, but they had no explanation whatever to offer.
They seemed quite unfamiliar with the phenomenon,
and it was apparently not one of those many things

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 333

which their forefathers wove superstitious stories
around, to hand down to their children. As the great
darkness continued, the natives retired to rest, without
even holding the usual evening chant. I did not
attempt to explain the real reason of the phenomenon,
but as I had no particular end to serve, I did not tell
them that it was due to my power.

Never once, you see, did I lose an opportunity of
impressing the savages among whom I dwelt. On
several occasions, having all the ingredients at my
disposal, I attempted to make gunpowder, but truth
to tell, my experiments were not attended with very
great success. I had charcoal, saltpetre, and sulphur
ready to my hand, — all obtainable from natural
sources close by ; but the result of all my efforts (and
I tried mixing the ingredients in every conceivable
way) was a very coarse kind of powder with practi-
cally no explosive force, but which would go off with
an absurd " puff."

Now I was very anxious to make an explosive
powder, not merely because it would assist me in
impressing the blacks, but also because I proposed
carrying out certain blasting operations in order to
obtain minerals and stones which I thought would be
useful. The net result was that although I could not
manufacture any potent explosive, yet I did succeed
in arousing the intense curiosity of the blacks. My
powder burnt without noise, and the natives could
never quite make out where the flame came from.

As there seemed to be a never-ending eagerness on
the part of the blacks to witness the wonders of the
white man, I even tried my hand at making ice — a
commodity which is, of course, absolutely unknown in

334 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

Central Australia. The idea came to me one day when
I found myself in a very cool cave, in which there was
a well of surprisingly cold water. Accordingly, I filled
some opossum skins with the refreshing fluid, placed
them in the coolest part of the cave, and then covered
them with saltpetre, of which there was an abundance.
When I tell you that the experiment was quite fruit-
less, you will readily understand that I did not always
succeed in my role of wonder-worker. But when-
ever I was defeated, it only had the effect of making
me set my wits to work to devise something still
more wonderful — something which I was certain
would be an assured success.

Whilst taking a stroll in the region of my
mountain home one day, my eyes — which were by
this time almost as highly trained as those of the
blacks themselves — suddenly fastened upon a thin
stream of some greenish fluid which was apparently
oozing out of the rocky ground. Closer investiga-
tion proved that this was not water. I collected a
quantity of it in a kangaroo skin, but this took a
considerable time, because the liquid oozed very
slowly.

I would not have taken this trouble were it not
that I was pretty certain / had discovered a spring oj
crude petroleum. Immediately, and by a kind of in-
stinct, it occurred to me that I might make use of
this oil as yet another means of impressing the blacks
with my magical powers. I told no one of my dis-
covery— not even Yamba. First of all I constructed
a sort of raft from the branches of trees, thoroughly
saturating each branch with the oil. I also placed a
shallow skin reservoir of oil on the upper end of the raft.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 335

and concealed it with twigs and leaves. This done,
I launched my interesting craft on the waters of the
lagoon, having so far carried out all my preparations
in the strictest secrecy. When everything was ready
I sent out invitations by mail-men, smoke signals,
and message sticks to tribes both far and near, to come
and see me set fire to the water I In parentheses, I
may remark, that with regard to smoke-signals, white
smoke only is allowed to ascend in wreaths and curls ;
while black smoke is sent up in one great volume.
As by this time my fame was pretty well established,
the wonder-loving children of Nature lost no time in
responding to the summons ; and at length, when the
mystic glow of a Central Australian evening had settled
over the scene, a great gathering established itself
on the shores of the lagoon. On such occasions,
however, I always saw to it that my audience were
not too near. But anyhow there was little chance of
failure, because the blacks had long since grown to
believe in me blindly and implicitly.

With much ceremony I set fire to the raft, hoisted
a little bark sail upon it, and pushed it off. It lay
very low in the water, and as the amazed onlookers
saw it gliding across the placid waters of the lagoon
enveloped in smoke and flames, they did actually
believe that I had set fire to the water itself —
particularly when the blazing oil was seen in lurid
patches on the placid surface. They remained watch-
ing till the fire died down, when they retired to their
own homes, more convinced than ever that the white
man among them was indeed a great and powerful
spirit.

But, human nature being fundamentally the same

336 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

all the world over, it was natural enough — and,
indeed, the wonder is how I escaped so long — that
one or other of the tribal medicine-men should get
jealous of my power and seek to overthrow me.
Now, the medicine-man belonging to the tribe in my
mountain home presently found himself (or fancied
himself) under a cloud, — the reason, of course, being
that my display of wonders far transcended anything
which he himself could do. So my rival commenced
an insidious campaign against me, trying to explain
away every wonderful thing that I did, and assuring
the blacks that if I were a spirit at all it was certainly
a spirit of evil. He never once lost an opportunity
of throwing discredit and ridicule upon me and my
powers ; and at length I discerned symptoms in the
tribe which rendered it imperatively necessary that I
should take immediate and drastic steps to overthrow
my enemy, who, by the way, had commenced trying
to duplicate every one of my tricks or feats. I gave
the matter some little thought, and one day, whilst
out on one of my solitary rambles, I came across
a curious natural feature of the landscape, which
suggested to me a novel and, I venture to say, re-
markable solution of a very serious situation.

I suddenly found myself on the brink of a peculiar
basin-like depression, which, from its obvious damp-
ness and profusion of bush and cover, I at once
recognised as the ideal abode of innumerable snakes.
I marked the spot in my mind, and returned home,
pondering the details of the dramatic victory I hoped
to win. Day by day I returned to this depression and
caught numerous black and carpet snakes. From
each of these dangerous and poisonous reptiles I re-

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 337

moved the poison fangs only ; and then, after scoring
it with a cross by means of my stiletto, I let it go,
knowing that it would never leave a spot so ideal —
from a snake's point of view. I operated on a great
number of the deadly reptiles in this way, but, of
course there remained many who were not so treated ;
whilst several of my queer patients died outright
under the operation. Needless to say, I might have
met my own death in this extraordinary business had
I not been assisted by my devoted wife. When we
had finished our work, there was absolutely nothing
in the appearance of the place to indicate that it was
any different from its state when I first cast my eyes
upon it.

Then, all being ready, I chose a specially dramatic
moment at a corroborce to challenge my rival in a war
song, this challenge being substantially as follows :
" You tell the people that you are as great as I — the
all-powerful white spirit-man. Well, now, I offer you
a formal challenge to perform the feat which I shall
perform on a certain day and at a certain spot." The
day was the very next day, and the spot, the scene
of my strange surgical operations upon the snakes.
The effect of my challenge was magical.

The jealous medicine-man, boldly and openly
challenged before the whole tribe, had no time to
make up an evasive reply, and he accepted then
and there. Urgent messages were despatched, by
the fun-loving blacks, to all the tribes, so that we
were pretty sure of a large and attentive audience.
It was about midday when the ridge round the de-
pression was crowded with expectant blacks, every
one of whom dearly loved a contest, or competition, of

338 DE ROUGEMONt'S ADVENTURES

whatever kind. I lost no time — for in love or war
shilly-shallying is unknown among the blacks — but
boldly leaped down into the hollow armed only with
a reed whistle, which I had made for myself solely
with the view of enticing the snakes from their holes.
I cast a triumphant glance at my impassive rival,
who, up to this moment, had not the faintest idea
what the proposed ordeal was. I commenced to play
as lively a tune as the limited number of notes in the
whistle would allow, and before I had been playing
many minutes the snakes came gliding out, swinging
their heads backwards and forwards and from side to
side as though they were under a spell. Selecting a
huge black snake, who bore unobtrusively my safety
mark, I pounced down upon him and presented my
bare arm. After teasing the reptile two or three
times I allowed him to strike his teeth deep into my
flesh, and immediately the blood began to run. I
also permitted several other fangless snakes to bite
me until my arms and legs, breast and back, were
covered with blood. Personally, I did not feel much
the worse, as the bites were mere punctures, and I
knew the selected reptiles to be quite innocuous.
Several "unmarked" snakes, however, manifested an
eager desire to join in the fun, and I had some
difficulty in escaping their deadly attentions. I had
to wave them aside with a stick.

All this time the blacks above me were yelling
with excitement, and I am under the impression that
several were lamenting my madness, whilst others
were turning angrily upon my rival, and accusing
him of having brought about my death. At a favour-
able moment I rushed up the ridge of the hollow and

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF

339

stood before the horrified medicine-man, who, in
response to my triumphant demand to go and do
likewise, returned a feeble and tremulous negative.

ii::Q^"

A STRANGE I'ERFORNf ANCE

Even he, I think, was now sincerely convinced that
I possessed superhuman powers ; but it would have

340 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

been awkward had he come along when I was labori-
ously and surreptitiously extracting the poison fangs
from the snakes, and placing my " hall mark " upon
them.

His refusal cost him his prestige, and he was
forthwith driven from the tribe as a fraud, whilst my
fame rose higher than ever. The blacks now wished
me to take over the office of medicine-man, but I
declined to do so, and nominated instead a youth I
had trained for the position. It may be necessary
here to remark that the blacks, under no circum-
stances, kill a medicine-man. My defeated rival was
a man of very considerable power, and I knew quite
well that if I did not get the best of him he would
have me driven out of the tribe and perhaps speared.

Mention of the snake incident reminds me of a
very peculiar and interesting sport which the blacks
indulge in. I refer to fights between snakes and
iguanas. These combats certainly afford very fine
sport. The two creatures are always at mortal
enmity with one another, but as a rule the iguana
commences the attack, no matter how much bigger
the snake may be than himself; or whether it is
poisonous or not. I have seen iguanas attack black
snakes from six feet to ten feet in length, whilst
they themselves rarely measured more than three or
four feet. As a rule the iguana makes a snapping
bite at the snake a few inches below its head, and
the latter instantly retaliates by striking its enemy
with its poisonous fangs. Then an extraordinary
thing happens. The iguana will let go his hold and
straightway make for a kind of fern, which he eats
in considerable quantities, the object of this being to

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 341

counteract the effects of the poison. When he thinks
he has had enough of the antidote he rushes back to
the scene of the encounter and resumes the attack ;
the snake always waits there for him. Again and
again the snake bites the iguana, and as often the
latter has recourse to the counteracting influences of
the antidote. The fight may last for upwards of an
hour, but eventually the iguana conquers. The final
struggle is most exciting. The iguana seizes hold of
the snake five or six inches below the head, and this
time refuses to let go his hold, no matter how much
the snake may struggle and enwrap him in its coils.
Over and over roll the combatants, but the grip of
the iguana is relentless ; and the struggles of the
snake grow • weaker, until at length he is stretched
out dead. Then the triumphant iguana steals slowly
away.

The spectators would never dream of killing him, —
partly on account of their admiration for his prowess,
but more particularly because his flesh is tainted with
poison from the repeated snake bites. These curious
fights generally take place near water-holes.

I have also seen remarkable combats between
snakes of various species and sizes. A small snake
will always respond to the challenge of a much larger
one, this challenge taking the form of rearing up and
hissing. The little snake will then advance slowly
towards its opponent and attempt to strike, but, as
a rule, the big one crushes it before it can do any
harm. I had often heard of the joke about two
snakes of equal size trying to swallow one another,
and was, therefore, the more interested when I came
across this identical situation in real life. One day,

342 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

right in my track, lay two very large snakes which
had evidently been engaged in a very serious en-
counter ; and the victor had commenced swallowing
his exhausted adversary. He had disposed of some
three or four feet of that adversary's length when I
arrived on the scene, and was evidently resting before
taking in the rest. I easily made prisoners of both.

Not long after this incident a delusive hope was
held out to me that I might be able to return to
civilisation. News was brought one day that the
tracks of some strange and hitherto unknown animals
had been found to the north, and, accompanied by
Yamba, I went off to inspect them. I found that
they were camel tracks — for the second time ; and as
Yamba informed me that, from the appearance of the
trail, there was no one with them, I concluded that
in all probability the creatures were wild, having
long ago belonged to some exploring party which had
come to grief.

" Here at length," I thought, " is the means of
returning to civilisation. If I can only reach these
creatures — and why should I not with so much assist-
ance at my disposal ? — I will break them in, and then
strike south across the deserts with my wife and
family." I returned to the camp, and taking with
me a party of the most intelligent tribesmen, set
off after the wild camels. When we had been
several days continuously tracking we came up with
the beasts. There were four of them altogether, and
right wild and vicious-looking brutes they were.
They marched close together in a band, and never
parted company. The moment I and my men tried
to separate and head them off, the leader would

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF

343

swoop down upon us with open mouth, and the result
of this appalling apparition was that my black assist-
ants fled precipitately. Alone I foHowed the camels
for several days in the hope of being able ultimately
to drive them into some ravine, where I thought I
might possibly bring them into a state of subjection
by systematic starvation. But it was a vain effort
on my part. They kept in the track of water-

tA-^2?*-'

CAMELS IN THE DESERT

holes, and wandered on from one to the other at
considerable speed.

At length I abandoned hope altogether, though not
without a feeling of sore disappointment, as I watched
the curious, ungainly creatures disappearing over the
ridge of a sand-hill. Of course I took good care not
to tell any of the natives the real reason of my desire
to possess a camel, — though I did try to explain to
them some of the uses to which people in other parts
of the world put these wonderful animals.

I never lost an opportunity of leaving records

344 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

wherever I could. As I have said before, I was
constantly blazing trees and even making drawings
upon them ; and I would have left records in cairns
had I been able to make an}' writing material. Talk-
ing about this, I was for a long time possessed with
the desire to make myself a kind of paper, and I fre-
quently experimented with the fibres of a certain kind
of tree. This material I reduced to a pulp, and then
endeavoured to roll into sheets. Here again, how-
ever, I had to confess failure. I found the ordinary
sheets of bark much more suitable for my purpose.

Pens I had in thousands from the quills of the wild
swan and goose ; and I made ink from the juice of a
certain dark-coloured berry, mixed with soot, which I
collected on the bottom of my gold cooking-kettle. I
also thought it advisable to make myself plates from
which to eat my food — not because of any fastidious-
ness on my part, but from that ever-present desire to
impress the blacks, which was now my strongest
instinct. In the course of my ramblings in the
northern regions I came across quantities of silver-
lead, which I smelted with the object of obtaining
lead to beat out into plates. I also went some
hundreds of miles for the sake of getting copper, and
found great quantities of ores of different kinds in
the Kimberley district.

A very strange experience befell Yamba not long
after I had settled down among the blacks in my
mountain home ; and it serves to illustrate the strict-
ness with which the laws against poaching are
observed. The incident I am about to relate con-
cerned me very nearly, and might have cost me my
life as well as my wife. Well, it happened that Yamba

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 345

and I were one day returning from one of the many
" walk-abouts " which we were constantly undertaking
alone and with natives, and which sometimes ex-
tended over several weeks and even months. We
had pitched our camp for the afternoon, and Yamba
went off, as usual, in search of roots and game for
the evening meal. She had been gone some little
time when I suddenly heard her well-known " coo-
eey " and knowing that she must be in trouble of some
kind, I immediately grasped my weapons and went
off to her rescue, guiding myself by her tracks.

A quarter of a mile away I came upon a scene
that filled me with amazement. There was Yamba
— surely the most devoted wife a man, civilised or
savage, ever had — struggling in the midst of quite
a crowd of blacks, who were yelling and trying
forcibly to drag her away. At once I saw what
had happened. Yamba had been hunting for roots
over the boundary of territory belonging to a tribe
with whom we had not yet made friends ; and as she
had plainly been guilty of the great crime of trespass,
she was, according to inviolable native law, confis-
cated by those who had detected her. I rushed up
to the blacks and began to remonstrate with them
in their own tongue, but they were both trucu-
lent and obstinate, and refused to release my now
weeping and terrified Yamba. At last we effected
a compromise, — I agreeing to accompany the party,
with their captive, back to their encampment, and
there have the matter settled by the chief. Fortu-
nately we had not many miles to march, but, as I
anticipated, the chief took the side of his own warriors,
and promptly declared that he would appropriate

346 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

Yamba for himself. I explained to him, but in vain,
that my wife's trespass was committed all unknow-
ingly, and that had I known his tribe were encamped
in the district, I would have come immediately and
stayed with them a few nights.

As showing what a remarkable person I was, I
went through part of my acrobatic repertoire; and
even my poor eager Bruno, who evidently scented
trouble, began on his own account to give a hurried
and imperfect show. He stood on his head and
tumbled backwards and forwards in a lamentably loose
and unscientific manner, barking and yelling all the
time.

I do not know whether the wily chief had made
up his mind to see more of us or not ; but at any rate
he looked at me very fiercely as though determined
to carry his point, and then replied that there was
but one law — which was that Yamba should be con-
fiscated for poaching, whether the crime was intentional
on her part or not. So emphatically was this said
that I began to think I had really lost my faithful
companion for ever. As this awful thought grew
upon me, and I pondered over the terrible past, I
made up my mind that if necessary I would lose my
own life in her defence, and to this end I adopted a
very haughty attitude, which caused the chief suddenly
to discover a kind of by-law to the effect that in such
cases as this one the nearest relative of the prisoner
might win her back by fighting for her. This, of
course, was what I wanted, above all things — particu-
larly as the old chief had not as yet seen me use my
wonderful weapons. And as I felt certain he would
choose throwing spears, I knew that victory was mine.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 347

He selected, with a critical eye, three well-made spears,
whilst I chose three arrows, which I purposely bran-
dished aloft, so as to give my opponent the impression
that they were actually small spears, and were to be
thrown, as such, javelin-fashion. The old chief and
his blacks laughed heartily and pityingly at this exhi-
bition, and ridiculed the idea that I could do any
damage with such toy weapons.

The demeanour of the chief himself was eloquent of
the good-humoured contempt in which he held me as
an antagonist ; and a distance of twenty paces having
been measured out, we took our places and prepared
for the dramatic encounter, upon which depended
something more precious to me than even my own
life. Although outwardly cool and even haughty, I
was really in a state of most terrible anxiety. I fixed
my eyes intently upon the spare but sinewy chief, and
without moving a muscle allowed him to throw his
spears first. The formidable weapons came whizzing
through the air with extraordinary rapidity one after
the other ; but long experience of the weapon and my
own nimbleness enabled me to avoid them. But no
sooner had I stepped back into position for the third
time than, with lightning dexterity, I unslung my bow
and let fly an arrow at my antagonist which I had
purposely made heavier than usual by weighting it
with fully an ounce of gold. Naturally he failed to see
the little feathered shaft approach, and it pierced him
right in the fleshy part of the left thigh — exactly where
I intended. The chief leaped from the ground more in
surprise than pain, as though suddenly possessed by
an evil spirit. His warriors, too, were vastly im-
pressed. As blood was drawn in this way, honour

348 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

and the law were alike supposed to be satisfied, so
Yamba was immediately restored to me, trembling and
half afraid to credit her own joyful senses.

My readers will, perhaps, wonder why these cannibal
savages did not go back on their bargain and refuse to
give her up, even after I had vanquished their chief in
fair fight; but the honourable course they adopted is
attributable solely to their own innate sense of fair-
play, and their admiration for superior prowess and
skill.

Why, when the chief had recovered from his as-
tonishment he came up to me, and greeted me warmly,
without even taking the trouble to remove my arrow
from his bleeding thigh ! We became the very best
of friends; and Yamba and I stayed with him for some
days as his guests. When at length we were obliged
to leave, he gave me quite an imposing escort, as
though I were a powerful friendly chief who had done
him a great service !

CHAPTER XVII

Mosquitoes and leeches — I explain pictures — An awkward admission
— My great portrait— The stomach as a deity — The portrait a
success — A colossal statue of "H. R.H." — ^Fish without eyes — A
sad reflection — A strange illusion — A grave danger — I sink a well
— "Universal provider" — A significant phenomenon — Bruno as
accomplice — I find Bruno dead.

I MUST say I was not very much troubled with
mosquitoes in my mountain home, and as I had en-
dured dreadful torments from these insects whilst at
Port Essington and other swampy places, I had good
reason to congratulate myself. Whilst crossing some
low country on one occasion I was attacked by these
wretched pests, whose bite penetrated even the clay
covering that protected my skin. Even the blacks
suffered terribly, particularly about the eyes. I,
however, had taken the precaution to protect my eyes
by means of leaves and twigs. At Port Essington the
mosquitoes were remarkably large, and of a greyish
colour. They flew about literally in clouds, and it was
practically impossible to keep clear of them.

The natives treated the bites with an ointment made
from a kind of penny-royal herb and powdered char-
coal. Talking about pests, in some parts the ants
were even more terrible than the mosquitoes, and I
have known one variety — a reddish-brown monster, an
inch long — to swarm over and actually kill children by

3 50 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

stinging them. Another pest was the leech. It was
rather dangerous to bathe in some of the lagoons on
account of the leeches that infested the waters. Often
in crossing a swamp I would feel a slight tickling sen-
sation about the legs, and on looking down would
find my nether limbs simply coated with these loath-
some creatures. The remarkable thing was, that
whilst the blacks readily knew when leeches attacked
them, I would be ignorant for quite a long time, until
I had grown positively faint from loss of blood.
Furthermore, the blacks seemed to think nothing of
their attacks, but would simply crush them on their
persons in the most nonchalant manner. Sometimes
they scorch them off their bodies by means of a lighted
stick — a kind office which Yamba performed for me.
The blacks had very few real cures for ailments, and
such as they had were distinctly curious. One cure for
rheumatism was to roll in the black, odourless mud
at the edge of a lagoon, and then bask in the blazing
sun until the mud became quite caked upon the
person.

The question may be asked whether I ever tried to
tell my cannibals about the outside world. My answer
is, that I only told them just so much as I thought
their childish imaginations would grasp. Had I told
them more, I would simply have puzzled them, and
what they do not understand they are apt to suspect.

Thus, when 1 showed them pictures of horse-races
and sheep farms in the copy of the Sydney Town and
Country Journal which I had picked up, I was obliged
to tell them that horses were used only in war-
fare, whilst sheep were used only as food. Had
I spoken about horses as beasts of burden, and told

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 351

them what was done with the wool of the sheep, they
would have been quite unable to grasp my meaning,
and so I should have done myself more harm than
good. They had ideas of their own about astronomy ;
the fundamental " fact " being that the earth was per-
fectly flat, the sky being propped up by poles placed
at the edges, and kept upright by the spirits of the
departed — who, so the medicine-man said, were con-
stantly being sent offerings of food and drink. The
Milky Way was a kind of Paradise of souls ; whilst
the sun was the centre of the whole creation.

I had often puzzled my brain for some method
whereby I could convey to these savages some idea of
the magnitude of the British Empire. I always had
the British Empire in my mind, not only because my
sympathies inclined that way, but also because I
knew that the first friends to receive me on my
return to civilisation must necessarily be British.
Over and over again did I tell the childish savages
grouped around me what a mighty ruler was the
Sovereign of the British Empire, which covered the
whole world. Also how that Sovereign had sent me
as a special ambassador^ to describe to them the
greatness of the nation of which they formed part.
Thus you will observe I never let my blacks
suspect I was a mere unfortunate, cast into their
midst by a series of strange chances. I mentioned
the whole world because nothing less than this
would have done. Had I endeavoured to distinguish
between the British Empire and, say, the German, I
should have again got beyond my hearers' depth, so
to speak, and involved myself in difficulties.

Half instinctively, but without motive, I refrained

352 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

from mentioning that the ruler of the British Empire
was a woman, but this admission dropped from me
accidentally one day, and then — what a falling off
was there ! I instantly recognised the mistake I had
made from the contemptuous glances of my blacks.
And although I hastened to say that she was a mighty
chieftainess, upon whose dominions the sun never
set ; and that she was actually the direct ruler of the
blacks themselves, they repudiated her with scorn,
and contemned me for singing the praises of a mere
woman. I had to let this unfortunate matter drop for
a time, but the subject was ever present in my mind,
and I wondered how I could retrieve my position
(and her Majesty's) without eating my words. At
length one day Yamba and I came across a curious
rugged limestone region, which was full of caves.
Whilst exploring these we came upon a huge, flat,
precipitous surface of rock, and then — how or why,
I know not — the idea suddenly occurred to me /o
draw a gigantic portrait of her Most Gracious Majesty
Queen Victoria ! At this period, I should mention, I
was a recognised chief, and periodically — once every
new moon — I gave a kind of reception to my people,
and also to the neighbouring tribes. At this interest-
ing function I would always contrive to have some
new wonder to unfold. My visitors never outstayed
their welcome, and I always managed to have an
abundance of food for them.

Well, I came upon the cave region a few weeks
after my unfortunate blunder about the Queen ; and I
determined to have my great portrait ready for the
next reception day. Taking some blocks of stone of
handy size, I first wetted the surface of the rock and

AN EXTRAORDINARY PORTRAIT

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES 355

then commenced to rub it, until I had a pretty smooth
face to work upon. This took some time, but whilst
I was doing it Yamba got ready the necessary char-
coal sticks and pigments such as the blacks decorate
themselves with at corroborees. I had a slight know-
ledge of drawing, and climbing up on some projecting
stones I commenced to draw in bold, sweeping outline,
what I venture to describe as the most extraordinary
portrait of Queen Victoria on record. The figure,
which was in profile, was perhaps seven feet or eight
feet high, and of more than equally extravagant pro-
portions in other respects. Of course, the figure had
to be represented entirely without clothing, otherwise
the blacks would simply have been puzzled. Now to
describe the portrait as much in detail as I dare.
The crown was composed of rare feathers such as
only a redoubtable and cunning hunter could obtain ;
and it included feathers of the lyre-bird and emu. The
sceptre was a stupendous gnarled waddy or club, such
as could be used with fearful execution amongst one's
enemies. The nose was very large, because this among
the blacks indicates great endurance ; whilst the biceps
were abnormally developed. In fact, I gave her Majesty
as much muscle as would serve for half-a-dozen profes-
sional pugilists or "strong men." The stomach was
much distended, and when I state this fact I am sure
it will excite much curiosity as to the reason why.

Well, as the stomach is practically the greatest
deity these savages know, and as food is often very
hard to obtain, they argue that a person with a very
full stomach must necessarily be a daring and skilful
hunter, otherwise he would not be able to get much
food to put into it.

356 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

This extraordinary portrait was finally daubed and
decorated with brilliant pigments and glaring splashes
of yellow, red, and blue. I also used a kind of vivid
red dye obtained from the sap of a certain creeper
which was bruised between heavy stones. I spent
perhaps a week or a fortnight on this drawing (I
could not give all day to it, of course) ; and the only
persons who knew of its existence were my own
children and women-folk. After the completion of
the great portrait, I went away, and waited impatiently
for my next reception day. When the wonder-loving
blacks were again before me I told them that I had a
remarkable picture of the great British Queen to show
them, and then, full of anticipation and childish delight,
they trooped after me to the spot where I had drawn
the great picture on the rocks. It is no exaggeration
to say that the crowd of cannibals stood and squatted
in front of my handiwork simply speechless with
amazement. Eventually they burst out into cries of
wonderment, making curious guttural sounds with
their lips, and smacking their thighs in token of their
appreciation. I pointed out every detail — the im-
mense size of the great Queen, and the various emblems
of her power ; and at last, stepping back from the rock,
I sang " God save the Queen," the beautiful national
hymn of Great Britain, which I had learned from the
two ill-fated girls, and which, you will remember, has
the same air as that of a Swiss song.

The general effect not merely removed any bad im-
pression that might have been created with regard
to my damaging admission about the sex of the great
ruler ; it more than re-established me in my old posi-
tion, and I followed up my success by assuring them

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 357

that her Majesty included in her retinue of servants
a greater number of persons than was represented in
the whole tribe before me. Furthermore, I assured
them that whilst the mountain home I had built was
very large (judged by their standard), the house of
Queen Victoria was big enough to hold a whole
nation of blacks.

In order to give you some idea of the nervous
horror I had of losing prestige, I may tell you that,
far from being satisfied with what I had done to
vindicate the great Sovereign whose special ambas-
sador I was supposed to be, I soon decided to give
yet another demonstration which should impress even
those who were inclined to cavil — if any such existed.
I pointed out that whilst the Queen, great and power-
ful and beloved ruler though she was, could not
lead her warriors into battle in person, yet she was
represented in war time by her eldest son, who was a
most redoubtable warrior and spear-thrower, and acted
on behalf of his illustrious mother on all occasions
when she could not appear. But as mention of the
Prince of Wales called for a demonstration of his
personality also, I determined to make another ex-
periment in portraiture, — this time in the direction
of sculpture. I think it was having come across a
very damp country, abounding in plastic clay, that
put this idea into my head. First of all, then, I cut
down a stout young sapling, which, propped up in the
ground, served as the mainstay of my statue ; and
from it I fastened projecting branches for the arms
and legs.

Round this framework I built up my figure with
blocks of clay ; and at length, after, perhaps, three or

358 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

four weeks' industrious modelling, I completed a
statue of his Royal Highness which measured about
seven feet six inches in height. The body and limbs
were of abnormal development, much on the lines of
my representation of his august mother. Fuller
details would be interesting, but hardly edifying.
This statue I " unveiled " at another of my monthly
receptions, and, judged by its effect, it was even a
greater success than the colossal portrait of the
Queen. A monster corroboree was held alongside the
Prince of Wales's statue, but, unfortunately, he
went to pieces in a day or two, when the fierce
sun beat down upon the clay, and cracked it. This
gradual disintegration of the great ruler's deputy
vastly amused the blacks, and I eventually had to
hasten the Prince's end, lest their mirth should com-
promise my dignity.

You will hardly be surprised when I tell you that
the blacks looked to me for everything. I was judge,
wonder-worker, and arbitrator. Often they would
pick up one of my possessions, and, whilst not exactly
coveting it, they would ask for one like it.

Take, for example, the reed flutes which, when
played by me, were such a source of joy to the blacks
and their children. Well, I was soon called upon to
make flutes for the natives, which I did out of long
reeds ; but these instruments only had two holes in
them at first, as the blacks could not play them when
other holes were added. The great drawback to these
flutes was that the reed dried very quickly and became
useless for musical purposes ; so I was kept pretty busy,
more especially as I did not want to create jealousy
by refusing some and gratifying others.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 359

Although the immediate country in which I estab-
lished my home was fertile and extremely rich in
tropical vegetation, the adjoining ranges were in
striking contrast to it ; many districts being rugged
and slaty and painfully difficult to traverse on foot.
There were, however, many interesting natural curiosi-
ties which beguiled the time in travelling.

Once I came across a certain kind of spider, whose
web was so strong and thick that it only broke under
considerable pressure from the finger. The spider
itself was fully two inches or three inches long, and
had formidable claws. Inland fishing, too, I found
extremely interesting. Of course, the inland blacks
have a very different method of fishing from that
adopted by the coast tribes. Often the inland
people would build a fire on the banks of the lagoon,
and throw something into the water to attract the
fish to the surface. When the fish rose they would
promptly be speared. Some of them weighed as
much as ten pounds, and proved excellent eating.
The blacks themselves never inquired how the fish
came into these inland holes ; it was enough for them
to know they were there and were good eating. The
usual fish-hooks were of bone ; and although I experi-
mented with hooks of gold and copper I found them
practically useless, and, in the long run, reverted to
articles of native manufacture. In a certain limestone
country, which I struck in the course of my wander-
ings, I discovered some extraordinary caves with
water-holes, in which blind fish existed. They cer-
tainly had indications of eyes, but these were hidden
beneath a kind of permanent skin covering. In any
case they would have had no use for eyes, because

36o DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

the water-holes were situated in the most profound
darkness. In other caves I discovered quantities of
extraordinary animal-bones, probably of prehistoric
origin.

If I have omitted to mention Bruno in connection
with every incident related in these ^Jages, it must
not be supposed that my faithful companion did not
play an important part in my daily life.

He was always with me ; but it must be remem-
bered that he was now growing old, and the natives
around me were by no means so keen to possess him
as the tribes of Carpentaria had been in the days
gone by.

All kinds of extraordinary incidents befell me
whilst on the " walk-about." Many a time have I
been deceived by mirage. One most complete de-
ception befell me one day whilst Yamba and I
were tramping over a stretch of low, sandy country.
Suddenly I fancied I descried the boundless ocean in
the distance, and with my usual impetuosity rushed
frantically forward in the firm belief that at last we
had reached the coast. Yamba explained that it was
only a mirage, but I would not stay to listen, and
must have gone miles before I gave up in disgust and
returned to my patient wife. This brings me to
another and perhaps still more extraordinary illusion.
One day whilst Yamba and I were passing through
one of those eternal regions of sand-hills and spinifex
which are the despair of the Australian explorer, I
suddenly saw in the distance what I was certain was
z. flock of sheep. There they were apparently — scores
of them, browsing calmly in a depression in a fertile
patch where most probably water existed.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 361

In an instant the old desire to return to civilisation,
which I had thought buried long ago, reasserted
itself, and I dashed forward at full speed yelling back
to Yamba, " Sheep, sheep — where sheep are, men are.
Civilisation at last ! " When at length I had got near
enough for the creatures to notice me, you may imagine
my disgust and disappointment when quite a little
forest of tall heads went high into the air, and z. Jlock
of emus raced off across the country at full speed.
These huge birds had had their heads down feeding,
and not unnaturally, in the distance, I had mistaken
them for sheep.

I think every one is aware that prolonged droughts
are of very common occurrence in Central Australia,
and are mainly responsible for the migratory habits
of the aborigines — particularly those of the remote
deserts in the interior. The most terrible drought
I myself experienced whilst in my mountain home
was one that extended over three years, when even
the lagoon in front of my dwelling, which I had
thought practically inexhaustible, dried up, with the
most appalling results. Just think — never a drop of
rain falling for over three long years, with a scorch-
ing sun darting down its rays almost every day !
During this terrible period the only moisture the
parched earth received was in the form of the heavy
dews that descended in the night. Even these, however,
only benefited the vegetation where any continued to
exist, and did not contribute in the slightest degree to
the natural water supply so necessai*y for the susten-
ance of human and animal life. The results were
terrible to witness. Kangaroos and snakes ; emus
and cockatoos ; lizards and rats — all lay about either

362 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

dead or dying ; and in the case of animals who had
survived, they seemed no longer to fear their natural
enemy, man.

Day by day as I saw my lagoon grow gradually
smaller, I felt that unless I took some steps to ensure
a more permanent supply, my people must inevitably
perish, and I with them. Naturally enough, they
looked to me to do something for them, and provide
some relief from the effects of the most terrible
drought which even they had ever experienced.
Almost daily discouraging reports were brought to
me regarding the drying up of all the better-known
water-holes all round the country, and I was at
length obliged to invite all and. sundry to use my
own all but exhausted lagoon. At length things
became so threatening that I decided to sink a well.
Choosing a likely spot near the foot of a precipitous
hill, I set to work with only Yamba as my assistant.
Confidently anticipating the best results, I erected a
crude kind of windlass, and fitted it with a green-hide
rope and a bucket made by scooping out a section of
a tree. My digging implements consisted solely of a
home-made wooden spade and a stone pick. Yamba
manipulated the windlass, lowering and raising the
bucket and disposing of the gravel which I sent to
the surface, with the dexterity of a practised navvy.
What with the heat, the scarcity of water, and the
fact that not one of the natives could be relied upon
to do an hour's work, it was a terribly slow and
wearying business ; but Yamba and I stuck to it
doggedly day after day.

At the end of a week I had sunk a narrow shaft
to a depth of twelve or fourteen feet, and then to

A WATER FAMINE

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES 365

my infinite satisfaction saw every indication that
water was to be found a little lower down. In the
course of the following week I hit upon a spring, and
then I felt amply rewarded for all the trouble I had
taken. Even when the lagoon was perfectly dry, and
only its parched sandy bed to be seen, the supply
from our little well continued undiminished ; and it
proved more than enough for our wants during the
whole of the drought. I even ventured to provide
the distressed birds and animals with some means
of quenching their insupportable thirst. A few yards
from the well I constructed a large wooden trough,
which I kept filled with water ; and each day it was
visited by the most extraordinary flocks of birds of
every size and variety of plumage — from emus down
to what looked like humming-birds. Huge snakes,
ten and fifteen feet long, hustled the kangaroos
away from the life-giving trough ; and occasionally
the crowd would be so excessive that some of the
poor creatures would have to wait hours before their
thirst was satisfied, — and even die on the outer fringe
of the waiting throng. I remember that even at the
time the scene struck me as an amazing and unprece-
dented one, for there was I doing my best to regulate
the traffic, so to speak, sending away the birds and
animals and reptiles whose wants had been satisfied,
and bringing skins full of water to those who had
fallen down from exhaustion, and were in a fair
way to die. As a rule, the creatures took no
notice whatever of me, but seemed to realise in
some instinctive way that I was their benefactor.
Of course I had to cover over the top of the
well itself, otherwise it would have been simply

366 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

swamped with the carcasses of eager animals and
birds.

But, it may be asked, why did I take the trouble
to supply everything that walked and flew and
crawled with water when water was so precious ?
A moment's thought will furnish the answer. If I
suffered all the animals, birds, and reptiles to die,
I myself would be without food, and then my last
state would be considerably worse than the first.

I think the snakes were the most ungrateful
creatures of all. Sometimes they would deliberately
coil themselves up in the trough itself, and so prevent
the birds from approaching. I always knew when
something of this kind had happened, because of the
frightful screeching and general uproar set up by the
indignant birds — that is to say, such as had the
power to screech left. I would hurry to the spot
and drag out the cause of the trouble with a forked
stick. I never killed him, because there were already
enough of his kind dead on every side. The very
trees and grass died ; and in this originated another
almost equally terrible peril — the bush fires, of
which more hereafter. Talking about snakes, one
day I had a narrow escape fiom one of these ungrate-
ful reptiles. A number of baby snakes had swarmed
into the trough, and I was in the very act of angrily
removing them when I heard a shout of horror from
Yamba. I swung round, instinctively leaping side-
ways as I did so, and there, rearing itself high in the
air, was an enormous snake, fully twenty feet long.
Yamba, without a moment's hesitation, aimed a tre-
mendous blow at it and smashed its head.

The drought was productive of all kinds of curious

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 367

and remarkable incidents. The emus came in great
flocks to the drinking-trough, and some of them were
so far gone that they fell dead only a few yards
from the fount of life. I picked up a great number
of these huge birds, and made their skins into useful
bed coverings, rugs, and even articles of clothing.
When this terrible visitation was at its height Yamba
made a curious suggestion to me. Addressing me
gravely one night she said, " You have often told me
of the Great Spirit whom your people worship ; He
can do all things and grant all prayers. Can you
not appeal to Him now to send us water ? " It
was a little bit awkward for me, but as I had often
chatted to my wife about the Deity, and told her of
His omnipotence and His great goodness to mankind,
I was more or less obliged to adopt this suggestion.
Accordingly she and I knelt down together one night
in our dwelling, and offered up an earnest prayer to
God that He would send water to the afflicted country.
Next morning that which seemed to me a miracle had
been wrought. Incredible though it may appear, all
the creeks, which until the previous night had been
mere dry watercourses for an untold number of
months, were rippling and running with the much-
needed water, and we were saved all further anxiety,
at any rate for the time. There may be, however,
some scientific explanation of this extraordinary
occurrence.

No sooner had we recovered from the delight caused
by this phenomenally sudden change than the rain
came — such rain ! and the tremendous tropical down-
pour lasted for several weeks. The country soon
reverted to something like its normal appearance.

368 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

The bush fires were extinguished, and even my lagoon
came into existence again.

Talking about bush fires, we often saw them raging
madly and sublimely in the mountains. They would
burn for weeks at a stretch, and devastate hundreds
of miles of country. For ourselves, we always pre-
pared for such emergencies by " ringing " our dwelling
— that is to say, laying bare a certain stretch of
country in a perfect circle around us. Often we
were almost choked by the intense heat which the
wind occasionally wafted to us, and which, combined
with the blazing sun and scarcity of water, rendered
life positively intolerable.

I now wish to say a few words about Bruno — a
few last sorrowful words — because at this period he
was growing feeble, and, indeed, had never been the
same since the death of Gibson. Still, I was con-
stantly making use of his sagacity to impress the
blacks. My usual custom was to hide some article
(such as my tomahawk), near the house in Bruno's
presence, and then start off on a tramp accompanied
by the blacks.

After we had gone a few miles I would suddenly
call a halt, and pretend to my companions that I had
forgotten something. Then I would order Bruno to
go back and fetch it, with many mysterious whisper-
ings. The dear, sagacious brute always understood
what I wanted him to do, and in the course of perhaps
an hour or two he would come and lay the article at
my feet, and accept the flattering adulation of my black
companions with the utmost calmness and indifference.
Bruno never forgot what was required of him when we
encountered a new tribe of blacks. He would always

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 369

look to me for his cue, and when he saw me commence
my acrobatic feats, he too would go through his little
repertoire, barking and tumbling and rolling about
with wonderful energy.

His quaint little ways had so endeared him to me
that I could not bear to think of anything happening
to him. On one occasion, when going through a
burning, sandy desert, both he and I suffered terribly
from the hot, loose sand which poured between our
toes and caused us great suffering. Poor Bruno
protested in the only way he could, which was by
stopping from time to time and giving vent to the
most mournful howls. Besides, I could tell from the
gingerly way he put his feet down that the burning
sand would soon make it impossible for him to
go any farther. I therefore made him a set of
moccasins out of kangaroo skin, and tied them on
his feet. These he always wore afterwards when
traversing similar deserts, and eventually he became
so accustomed to them that as soon as we reached
the sand he would come to me and put up his paws
appealingly to have his " boots " put on !

But now age began to tell upon him ; he was
getting stiff in his limbs, and seldom accompanied
me on hunting expeditions. He seemed only to
want to sleep and drowse away the day. He had
been a splendid kangaroo hunter, and took quite an
extraordinary amount of pleasure in this pursuit. He
would run down the biggest kangaroo and " bail
him up " unerringly under a tree ; and whenever the
doomed animal tried to get away Bruno would -imme-
diately go for his tail, and compel him to stand at bay
once more until I came up to give the coup de grace.

2 A

370 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

Of course, Bruno received a nasty kick sometimes and
occasionally a bite from a snake, poisonous and other-
wise. He was not a young dog when I had him
first ; and I had now made up my mind that he could
not live much longer. He paid but little attention

in these days to
either Yamba or
myself, and in
this condition he
lingered on for a
year or more.

One morning
I went into the
second hut —
which we still

DEATH OF BRUNO

called Gibson's, by the way, although he had
never lived there — when to my dismay and horror
(notwithstanding that I was prepared for the event),
I beheld my poor Bruno laid out stiff and stark
on the little skin rug that Gibson had originally
made for him. I do not think I knew how much I

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 371

loved him until he was gone. As I stood there,
with the tears coursing down my cheeks, all the
strange events of my wondrous career seemed to rise
before my mind — events in which poor dead Bruno
always took an active part. He was with me on the
wreck ; he was with me on the island ; he was with
me in all my wanderings and through all my suffer-
ings and triumphs. He got me out of many a scrape,
and his curious little eccentricities, likes, and dislikes
afforded me never-ending delight. But now he was
gone the way of all flesh ; and although I had ex-
pected this blow for many months, I do not think
this mitigated my poignant grief. Yamba, too, was
terribly grieved at his death, for she had become
most devotedly attached to him and he to her. I
rolled the body of the faithful creature in a kind of
preservative earth and then in an outer covering of
bark. This done I laid him on a shelf in one of the
caves where the wild dogs could not get at him, and
where the body of Gibson, similarly treated, had also
been placed.

CHAPTER XVIII

I make a perambulator — Meeting with whites — A dreadful habit — The
miracle of Moses — Preparing a demonstration — An expectant
audience — Yamba growing feeble — One tie snapped — Yamba's
pathetic efforts — Vain hopes — Yamba dying — Nearing the end —
My sole desire — A mass of gold — I seek trousers and shirt — An
interesting greeting — A startling question — ^ Towards Mount
Margaret — The French Consul — I reach London.

I ALWAYS felt instinctively that any attempt at
missionary enterprise on my part would be
dangerous, and might besides afford jealous medicine-
men and other possible enemies an excellent oppor-
tunity of undermining my influence.

Sometimes, however, when all the tribe was gathered
together, I would bring up the subject of cannibalism,
and tell them that the Great Spirit they feared so much
had left with me a written message forbidding all
feasting off the bodies of human beings. The " written
message " I referred to on these occasions was my old
Bible. Of course the blacks failed to understand its
purport as a book, having no written language of their
own ; but my manner and words served to impress
them.

My natives seemed ever to manifest the keenest
interest in the accounts I gave them of the wonderful
resources of civilisation ; but experience showed that

I must adapt my descriptions to the intellect of my

372

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES 373

hearers. For example, I used to tell them that in the
great cities ("camps " I called them) there was never
any real darkness if men chose, because there were
other lights at command which could be turned off and
on at will. The most effective analogy in this respect
was the twinkling of the stars in the heavens ; but my
hearers were greatly amazed to think that such lights
could be under the command of man.

The blacks had long since put me down as a great
spirit come to visit them, and they even located by
common consent a certain star in the heavens which
they decided was at one time my home, and to which
I should eventually return. Every time I made a false
step, I had to devise some new " miracle " by way of
counterblast.

On one occasion I actually made a perambulator for
the conveyance of children ! It was the very first time
that these primitive savages had seen the principle of
the wheel applied to locomotion, and it passed their
comprehension altogether. With childish delight and
an uproar that baffles iall description, both men and
women almost fought with one another for the honour
of pushing the crude little conveyance about. The
perambulator was made out of logs, and was a four-
wheeled vehicle ; the rims of the wheels being cut from
a hollow tree. My blacks were also much amazed at
the great size of my mountain home ; but their won-
derment increased greatly when I explained to them
that some of the buildings in the great " camps " of
the white man were as large as the hills, and much
more numerous.

Elsewhere I have spoken of the extraordinary sys-
tem of telegraphy that exists among the blacks. Well,

374 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

in the early eighties news began to reach me that
numbers of white men had appeared in the north ;
and in one of my many long tramps I one day came
upon a party of white men engaged in prospecting.
I speak of this remarkable meeting thus abruptly
because their tent met my gaze in the most abrupt
manner possible. It is ever so in the Australian bush.

THE PERAMBULATOR

I found that this party was by no means an isolated
one, and I actually stayed in various camps for a few
days, before returning to my mountain home. I
need hardly remark that the white men were far more
astonished to see me than I was at meeting them. Of
course I could have joined them and gone back to
civilisation, but this I would not do without my native
wife and family. It was in the Kimberley district that
I met these parties of prospectors ; and I may here

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 375

remark that I had for some time been aware of the
existence of this auriferous region. I learned after-
wards that the Kimberley was geographically the
nearest point I might have made for in order to reach
civilisation.

When I settled down again in my mountain home
I soon fell into my old way of living, which was prac-
tically identical with that of the blacks, save that I
did not always accompany them when they shifted
camp. Parties of natives were constantly calling
upon me, and would stay perhaps three or four days
at a time. I encouraged these visits, and invariably
prepared some entertainment for my guests, — even
going to the extent of providing them with wives,
according to native custom. But, you will ask, where
did I get wives to hand round in this convenient
fashion ? A very interesting question this, and one
which requires a somewhat lengthy answer. Now, the
blacks do not look upon the advent of a female child
with any favour ; on the contrary, they frequently get
rid of it at once in order to save themselves the trouble
of taking it with them when on the walk-about.

As I was always very fond of children, I decided to
try and put a stop to this dreadful habit of child-
murder, so I made it known far and wide that parents
could pass their girl-babies on to me, and I would
rear and look after them. The result of this widely-
advertised offer was that I soon had quite an orphan
asylum established — an institution which was valuable
to me in many ways. Quite apart from the satisfaction
I derived from knowing I had saved these children
from a terrible death, I was looked upon as a kind
of prospective father-in-law on a gigantic scale, and

7^y6 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

young men came from all parts to treat with me for
wives.

As I have said before, my regular reception days
were held at the new moon.

My visitors, as well as my own people, gradually
grew to have quite a reverence for the Bible ; but I
am afraid it was not on account of the sacredness of
the book, but rather owing to the wonderful things it
contained, and which were interpreted by me in such
a way as would appeal directly to the primitive minds
of these people.

Oftentimes I made mistakes. For instance, what
seemed to interest them enormously was the story of
how Moses struck the rock and obtained a miraculous
supply of water. Anything in the way of fresh water
procured in the desert interested them keenly. Only,
unfortunately, they floored me by asking me to accom-
plish a similar miracle !

Another Bible story which brought me some dis-
comfiture was about Balaam and his ass. Now, when
I decided to tell the story of Balaam, I knew from
experience that if I mentioned an " ass," that animal
would require all kinds of tedious explanation, which
would probably result in needless mystification and
consequent suspicion ; so I boldly plunged into the
story of Balaam and his kangaroo ! But what stag-
gered the blacks altogether was that Balaam's kangaroo
should be able to speak. Now, it seems that a talking
animal is the greatest possible joke known to the blacks,
and so my narrative was greeted with uproarious
mirth ; and my " impossible " story even spread from
tribe to tribe. I found it was no use telling the
blacks anything they could not readily comprehend.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 377

One day I told them about the destruction of
Sodom and Gomorrah by fire and brimstone, and this
again landed me in disaster, for I was promptly asked
how could any one, Great Spirit or other, burn up the
stones of which the houses were composed ? And,
of course, each instance of this kind would be pounced
upon by a tribal medicine-man or some other jealous
enemy, and used to discredit me. A few days after
telling the Sodom and Gomorrah story, I was on
a walk-about with Yamba in my mountain region,
when I suddenly discovered that shale existed in
very considerable quantities, and I thereupon con-
ceived the idea of demonstrating to the blacks that,
not only was the Bible narrative a true one, but that
it was quite possible to ignite stone ; and I would
even show them how it was done !

Aided by Yamba and other members of my family,
I constructed an immense shaft-like cairn, mainly
composed of loose pieces of shale intermixed with
sandstone. I put in the sandstone and other stones,
partly in order that the blacks might not notice the
uniform construction of the cairn ; and partly also
because I knew that when the ordinary stones were
heated, they would probably burst or explode with a
loud sound, and so terrify the superstitious onlookers.
The cairn was about fifteen feet high, with an opening
at the summit and other small openings at the sides
in order to ensure a good draught. At the base I
left an opening sufficiently large for me to crawl
through. Then I placed inside a quantity of inflam-
mable material — such as wood and dry bark ; — and
as all these preparations went forward in a very
leisurely manner, my monthly reception was quite

3/8 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

due when everything was ready. Wishing to have
an exceptionally large gathering, I sent out invitations
to all the surrounding tribes to come and see my
wonderful performance at which I would " set fire to
the rocks and stones."

A perfectly enormous crowd assembled at the time
appointed, for my previous achievements had led
the black-fellows to suppose I had some marvellous
manifestation in store for them. Never can I forget
the keenness with which that great assembly antici-
pated the entertainment in store for them. And
remember, they were growing pretty blase by this
time, having witnessed so many miracles.

In the twilight of the evening, when the murmur
of the multitude was hushed, I crawled cautiously
into the cairn (I should have been buried alive had
it collapsed), and at once commenced operations with
the flint and steel and tinder which I had taken
care to leave there. In another minute I had set
fire to the wood and dry material that filled the
bottom of the shaft. When I was satisfied that it
was thoroughly alight, I discreetly withdrew and
joined the wondering crowd, which I had forbidden
to approach too close. Dense clouds of smoke were
now rolling from the apertures of the great cairn,
and in a short time the shaft was a fierce and raging
furnace, with the ordinary stones red hot and occa-
sionally bursting with loud explosions, which threw
showers of glowing slag high into the air.

The blacks were almost paralysed with fear, and
many of them threw themselves prostrate on the
ground, ignoring the hail of stones that fell upon
their naked bodies. I stalked about majestically

i^'E;^^-^ ^^.

SETTING FIRE TO ROCKS AND STONES

DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES 381

among them, exulting in my power and the success
of my manifestation. The big cairn burnt for many
days more fiercely than even a stack of coal would do ;
and I never ceased to wonder that the blacks them-
selves had not long ago found out the inflammable
nature of the " stone."

By this time Yamba could speak English tolerably
well, but we did not invariably use that language.

Gradually and half unconsciously I fell into the
habit of speaking the native tongue, until I suddenly
found that the practice was obtaining such a firm hold
upon me that I was forgetting French altogether;
whilst it was only with difficulty that I could form
grammatical sentences in English. I soon came to
the conclusion, therefore, that it was necessary for me
to hold much more converse in English than I had
hitherto done ; and from the moment that this curious
" scare *" suggested itself to my mind, Yamba and I and
our children spoke nothing but English when we were
by ourselves in the evening. I cultivated my know-
ledge of English in preference to any other language,
because I knew that if ever we should reach civilisa-
tion, English and not French would be the language
spoken. It may be interesting also to mention that
one of the first indications I had that I was losing my
Enghsh was an inability to think in that language.

In general appearance I was now absolutely like a
black, and wore only an apron of emu skin as a pro-
tection against the scrub I encountered when on the
walk-about. In the ordinary way I never had any
marks upon me with the exception of these scratches.
Of course, on festive occasions, I was gaily painted and
decorated, and no doubt I would have been initiated

382 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

into manhood, and borne the tribal and other marks,
were it not for the fact that I was a man when I came
among the blacks.

It is obviously impossible for me to record minutely
the happenings of every day, mainly because only the
salient incidents stand out in my mind. Besides, I
have already dealt with the daily routine, and have
probably repeated myself in minor details.

A constant source of grief to me was the weakly
condition of my two children, who I knew could
never attain mature age. And knowing they were
doomed, I think I loved them all the more.

Yet so incomprehensible is human nature that I
often found myself speculating on what I should do
after they — and Yamba — were gone ; because by this
time my faithful helpmate was growing ominously
feeble. You must remember that when I first met
her on the desert island she was an oldish woman,
judged by the native standard ; that is to say, she was
about thirty.

The death-bed of my boy is a scene I can never
forget. He called me to him, and said he was very
glad he was dying, because he felt he would never
have been strong enough to fight his way through life,
and endure daily what the other black boys endured.
Therefore, he argued wistfully, and half inquiringly,
he would only be a burden to me. He was a very
affectionate and considerate little fellow, with an intelli-
gence far beyond that of the ordinary aboriginal child.
He spoke in English, because I had taught both him
and his sister that language. At the last I learned —
for the first time — that it was always worrying him,
and almost breaking his little heart, that he could

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 383

never compete with the black boys in their games of
strength and skill; and no doubt he would have
become an outcast were it not that he was my son.

Almost his last whispered words to me were that
he would be able to assist me more in the Spirit-land
than ever he could hope to do in the flesh. He was
perfectly conscious to the last, and as I knelt down by
his couch of fragrant eucalyptus leaves, and stooped
low to catch his whispered message, he told me he
seemed to be entering a beautiful new country, where
the birds always sang and the flowers bloomed for
ever. Spirit voices kept calling him, he said, and he
felt himself being irresistibly drawn away from me.

Upon my own feelings I do not wish to dwell. All
I will say is I kissed my boy on the eyes and mouth,
and then, with a soft " Good-bye, they have come for
me," he closed his eyes for ever.

I felt it was to be. A few days afterwards the little
girl, my remaining child, was taken ill, and so feeble
was she, that she soon joined her brother in the better
land. I seemed to be overwhelmed with misfortunes,
but the greatest of all was yet to come. I have hinted
that Yamba was beginning to show signs of infirmity
through advancing years. I could not help noticing,
with a vague feeling of helpless horror and sickening
foreboding, that she had lost her high spirits and keen
perception — to say nothing about the elasticity of her
tread and her wonderful physical endurance generally.
She was no longer able to accompany me on the long
and interesting tramps which we had now taken
together for so many years. Her skin began to
wither and wrinkle, and she gradually took on the
appearance of a very old woman. The result of this

384 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

was I began to have fits of frightful depression and
acute misery. I stayed at home a good deal now,
partly because I knew the country thoroughly and no
longer cared to explore, and partly also because I
missed the companionship and invaluable assistance
of my devoted wife. I constantly buoyed myself up
with the hope that Yamba was only aihng temporarily,
and that her enfeebled condition had been brought on
mainly by the misfortunes that had befallen us of late.
But she grew more and more feeble, and both she and
I knew that the end was not far off. Never once,
however, did we allude to such a catastrophe ; and
whenever I fixed my eyes earnestly upon her in the
vain hope of discerning some more favourable symptom,
she would pretend not to notice me.

I would sometimes take her for a long walk, which
was really much beyond her strength, solely in order
that we might delude ourselves with vain hopes. And
she, poor creature, would tax herself far beyond her
strength in order to afford me a happiness which the
real state of things did not justify.

For instance, she would run and leap and jump in
order to show that she was as young as ever ; but after
these strange and pathetic demonstrations she would
endeavour to conceal her great exhaustion.

Very soon my poor Yamba was obliged to remain
at home altogether; and as she grew more and more
infirm, she plucked up courage to tell me that she knew
she was going to die, and was rather glad than other-
wise, because then I would be able to return to civilisa-
tion— that goal for which I had yearned through so
many years. She pointed out to me that it would not
be so difficult now, as I had already been brought into

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF

385

contact with parties of white men ; and, besides, we
had long ago had news brought to us about the con-
struction of the Trans-Continental Telegraph Line from
Adelaide to Port Darwin. No sooner had she spoken
of death than I broke down again altogether. The
thought that she should be taken from me was so cruel
that its contemplation was quite insupportable, and I

AS YOUNG AS EVER

threw myself down beside her in a perfect agony of
grief and dread.

I told her I did not mind how long I remained among
the blacks so long as she was with me ; and I tried to
persuade her, with all the eloquence I could muster,
that, far from dying, she would return to civilisation
with me, so that I might spread abroad to the whole

2 B

386 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

world the story of her devotion and her virtues. As
she continued merely to smile pityingly, I changed my
tone and dwelt upon the past. I went through the whole
story of my life, from the time she was cast upon the
desert island in the Sea of Timor, and at the recital of
all the hardships and dangers, joys and troubles, which
we had passed through together, she broke down also,
and we wept long and bitterly in one another's arms.

By this time she had become a convert to Christianity,
but this was entirely a matter of her own seeking. She
had such implicit belief in my wisdom and knowledge,
that she begged me to tell her all about my religion
in order that she might adopt it as her own. Like
most converts, she was filled with fiery zeal and
enthusiasm, and tried to soften the approaching terror
by telling me she was quite happy at the thought of
going, because she would be able to look after me even
more than in the past. " How different it would have
been with me," she used to say, "had I remained with
my old tribe. I should still be under the belief that
when I died my highest state would be to be turned
into an animal ; but now I know that a glorious future
awaits us, and that in due time you will join me in
heaven."

Yamba did not suffer any physical pain, nor was she
actually confined to her bed until four days before her
death. As the various tribes knew the love and
admiration I had for her, the fact that she lay dying
spread rapidly, and crowds of natives flocked to my
mountain home.

Widespread sympathy was expressed for me ; and
all kinds of tender consideration were evinced by these
savages. All day long an incessant stream of women-

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF

387

folk kept coming to the hut and inquiring after my
dying wife.

It seemed to be Yamba's sole anxiety that I should
be well equipped for the journey back to civilisation.
She would rehearse with me for hours the various
methods adopted by the black-fellows to find water;
and she reminded me that my course at first was to be
in a southerly direction until I came to a region where
the trees were blazed, and then I was to follow the

"good-bye, my husband, I AM GOING'

track that led westward. She had elicited this in-
formation for me from the blacks with remarkable
acuteness.

These last days seemed to pass very quickly,
and one night the dying woman had a serious
relapse. Hitherto she had always addressed me as
" Master," but now that she stood in the Valley of
the Shadow she would throw her arms about my
neck and whisper softl}-^, "Good-bye, my husband.

388 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

Good-bye, I am going — going — going. I will wait
for you — there."

For myself I could not seem to realise it. Some-
times I would rise up with the sole intention of finding
out whether this frightful thing was or was not a
ghastly dream. Then my memory would go back over
the long years, and every little instance of unselfish-
ness and devotion would rise before my mind. As
I looked at the prostrate and attenuated form that lay
silent on the couch of eucalyptus leaves, I felt that life
was merely the acutest agony, and that I must imme-
diately seek oblivion in some form or the other, or lose
my reason. It seemed, I say, impossible that Yamba
could cease to be. It seemed the cruellest and most
preposterous thing that she could be taken from me.

Frantically I put my arms around her and actually
tried to lift her on to her feet, begging of her to show
how robust she was as in the days of yore. I
whispered into her ears all the memories of the past,
and the poor creature would endeavour to respond with
a series of feeble efforts, after which she sank back
suddenly and breathed a last pitiful sigh.

Language is utterly futile to describe my horror —
my distraction. I felt as I imagined a man would feel
after amputation of all his members, leaving only the
quivering and bleeding trunk. I felt that life held no
more joy, no more hope ; and gladly would I have
welcomed death itself as a happy release from the
wretchedness of living. In my delirium of grief I often
besought the repulsive savages about me to spear me
where I stood.

Upon this subject I can dwell no more, because of
what followed I have onl}'' the vaguest recollection.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 389

For days I seemed to live in a kind of dream, and was
not even sure that the people I met day by day were
real beings. As to my awful loss, I am sure I did not
realise it. What I did realise, however, was the
necessity for immediate action. Like a dream to me
also is the memory of the sincere grief of my blacks
and their well-meant endeavours to console me. The
women kept up a mournful howl, which nearly drove
me crazy, and only strengthened my resolve to get
away from that frightful place. So dazed did I be-
come, that the blacks concluded some strange spirit
must have entered into me.

They seemed to take it for granted that I left all
arrangements for the funeral to them ; the sole idea
that possessed me being to complete my arrangements
for the great journey I had before me. I told the
natives frankly of my intention, and immediately forty
of them volunteered to accompany me on my travels
as far as I chose to permit them to come. I readily
accepted the kindly offer, partly because I knew that
alone I should have gone mad ; and partly also because
I instinctively realised that with such a bodyguard I
would have nothing to fear either from human foes or
the tortures of thirst.

I left everything. I cut off my long hair with my
stiletto and distributed it among the- natives to be
made into bracelets, necklaces, and other souvenirs ;
and then I departed with little ceremony from the
place where I had spent so many years of weird and
strange exile. Most of my belongings I gave away,
and I think I turned my back upon my mountain home
with little or no regret. My dress consisted solely of
the usual covering of emu skin ; whilst attached to a

390 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

belt round my waist were my tomahawk and stiletto.
My bow and arrows were slung over my shoulder.
Day after day we marched steadily on, precisely as
though we were on a walk-about. The conditions of
the country were constantly changing, and I came
across many evidences of its natural richness in
minerals — more particularly gold.

One day as we were all resting near the base of a
rock, which was a kind of huge outcrop from the plain,
I began idly to chip the stone with my tomahawk.
Suddenly the edge glanced aside, revealing a bright,
shining, yellow metal. I sprang to my feet in astonish-
ment, and realised in a moment that this great mass
of rock was auriferous to an enormous degree, and
there was one gigantic nugget, spread out tentacle-
wise in it, which if removed would, I am sure, be as
much as a couple of men could carry.

Week after week passed by, and still we continued
our southward march. In time, of course, my com-
panions returned to their own country ; but so leisurely
had our progress been that I had ample time thoroughly
to ingratiate myself with other tribes, — so that, as usual,
I went from tribe to tribe practically armed only with
my own knowledge of the savages and my invaluable
repertoire of tricks. In the course of months I came
upon the blazed or marked trees, and then struck due
west.

Very few incidents worth recording befell me, and I
kept steadily on my way for eight or nine months. At
last — at last — I came upon unmistakable signs of the
proximity of " civilisation " ; for strewn along the track
we were now following were such things as rusty meat-
tins; old papers; discarded and very much ant-eaten

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 391

clothing ; tent-pegs ; and numerous other evidences of
pioneer Hfe. One day, about noon, I espied an en-
campment of tents 500 or 600 yards ahead of me, and
I promptly brought my men to a halt whilst I went
forward a little to reconnoitre. Curiously enough, the
sight of these tents did not cause me any great emotion.
You see, I had met prospectors before in the Kimberley
region, and besides, I had been looking for these tents
so long from the time I first came across the evidences
of civilisation aforesaid, that my only surprise was I
had not reached them before. Walking about were
Europeans in the usual dress of the Australian pro-
spector. Suddenly a strange feeling of shyness and
hesitancy came over me. Almost stark naked and
darkened as I was — a veritable savage, in fact — I
realised I could not go and introduce myself to these
men without proper clothing. I knew the value of
caution in approaching so-called civilised men, having
had bitter experience with the Giles expedition. Re-
turning to my blacks, I told them that at last I had
come up with my own people, but did not want to join
them for some little time yet. Then I selected a couple
of my companions, and explained to them that I wanted
some white man's clothing.

I instructed them to creep quietly into the camp, take
a pair of trousers and shirt that were hanging outside
one of the tents, and bring back these articles to me.
They undertook the commission with evident delight,
but when they returned in the course of a few minutes
they brought only the shirt with them ; the trousers,
it seemed having been removed no doubt by the owner,
a few minutes before they arrived. My blacks were
intensely amused when I donned the shirt ; and con-

392 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

sidering that this was practically the only article of
wearing apparel I possessed, I have no doubt I did cut
a very ludicrous figure. Then came another difficulty.
I reflected I could not possibly go and show myself
among these white men wearing one of their own shirts.
Finally I decided to bid farewell then and there to my
escort, and continue my march alone until I reached
another encampment.

In the course of another day or so I reached a second
camp. Into this I decided to venture and explain who
I was. Before taking this step, however, I rubbed off
all the clayey coating on my skin, trimmed my hair and
beard to a respectable length by means of a firestick,
and threw away my bow, which was now my only
remaining weapon ; then I marched boldly into the
camp. Some five or six bronzed prospectors were
seated at supper round the fire in front of the tent as I
approached ; and when they caught sight of me they
stared, astounded for the moment, and then burst into
laughter, under the impression that I was one of their
own black servants playing some joke upon them.
When I was but a few yards away, however, I called
out in English —

" Halloa, boys ! have you room for me ? "

They were too much taken aback to reply immedi-
ately, and then one of them said —

"Oh yes; come and sit down."

As I seated myself among them they asked —

" Have you been out prospecting ? "

"Yes," I said quietly, "and I have been away a
very long time."

"And where did you leave your mates ?" was the
next question.

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 393

" I had no mates," I told them. " I undertook my
wanderings practically alone.

They looked at one another, winked, and smiled
incredulously at this. Then one of them asked me if
I had found any gold.

"HALLOA, boys! HAVK YOU ROOM FOR ME?"

I said, " Oh yes, plenty of gold," and then the next
query — a most natural one — was, "Well, why have
you not brought some of the stuff back with you ?
How far have you travelled ? "

I told them I had been tramping through the heart
of the Continent for eight or nine months, and that
I had no means of carrying nuggets and quartz about

394 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

with me. But this explanation only served to renew
their merriment, which reached its climax when, in an
unguarded moment, I put a question which I had been
burning to ask —

"What year is this ? "

"This is Bellamy's 'Looking Backward' with a
vengeance," cried one of the prospectors — a sally that
was heartily appreciated by the whole of the company,
with the exception of myself. I began to think that
if this was the reception civilisation had for me, it
were better for me to have remained among my faithful
savages.

But in a few minutes the men's demeanour changed,
and it was obvious that they looked upon me as a
harmless lunatic just emerged from the bush. I was
assured that this conclusion was correct when I saw
the diggers looking at one another significantly and
tapping their foreheads. I resolved to tell them nothing
further about myself, well knowing that the more I told
them the more convinced they would be that I was a
wandering lunatic, I learned that these men were a
party of decent young fellows from Coolgardie. They
offered me a meal of tea and damper, and pressed me
to stay the night with them, but I declined their
hospitality. I gratefully accepted a pair of trousers,
but declined the offer of a pair of boots, feeling certain
that I could not yet bear these on my feet. My rough
benefactors told me that I should find many other
camps to the south and west ; so I wandered off into
the bush again and spent the night alone.

My next move was in the direction of Mount
Margaret ; and along the road which I traversed I came
across an interesting variety of picks, shovels, and

AS TOLD BY HIMSELF 395

other mining tools, which had evidently been discarded
by disappointed prospectors. I decided not to enter
this town but to go round it; then I continued my
tramp alone towards Coolgardie and thence to Southern
Cross.

After working for some time in the last-named town
(my impressions of " civilisation " would make another
whole book), I made my way to Perth, the capital of
Western Australia. In Perth I was advised that it
would be better for me to go to Melbourne, as I would
stand a much better chance there of getting a ship on
which I might work my passage to Europe. Accord-
ingly I proceeded to Melbourne as soon as I could,
and the only noteworthy incident there was my humo-
rous interview with the French Consul. I addressed
that dignified functionary in execrable French, telling
him that I was a French subject and wanted to be sent
back to Europe. I bungled a great deal, and when
my French failed I helped myself out with English.
The Consul waited patiently till I had finished, strok-
ing his beard the while, and looking at me in the most
suspicious manner.

" You claim this because you are a Frenchman ? "
he said.

"That is so," I replied, involuntarily relapsing into
English once more.

" Well," he said coldly, as he turned away, " the
next time you say 3'ou are a Frenchman you had better
not use any English at all, because you speak that
language better than I do."

I tried to argue the point with him, and told him I
had been shipwrecked, but when I went on to explain
how long ago that shipwreck was, he smiled in spite

396 DE ROUGEMONT'S ADVENTURES

of himself, and I came away. From Melbourne I went
to Sydney, and from Sydney to Brisbane.

About May 1897, I found myself in Wellington,
New Zealand, where I was advised I stood an excellent
chance of getting a ship to take me to England. I sailed
in the New Zealand Shipping Company's Waikato, and
landed in London in March 1898.

THE END

Printed by Ballantyni:, Hanson &' Co.
Edinburgh 6^ London

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tractiveness . ' ' — Nature.

VI.

THE STORY OF A PIECE OF COAL.
By E. A. Martin. With 38 Illustrations.
' ' Explains in simple and delightful fashion what coal is, whence
it comes, and whither it goes, and in the concluding chapters shows
how intimately it is connected with the interests of the botanist, the
geologist, the physicist, the chemist, and the merchant." — Bradford
Observer.

VII.

THE STORY OF ELECTRICITY.

By J. MUNRO, Joint Author of " The Pocket-book of

Electrical Rules and Tables." With 100 Illustrations.

' ' Just the kind of book to give the general reader more correct

views of the subject than many a pretentious tome." — The Electrical

Engineer.

' ' For general interest we must pronounce the little book without
a peer, style and matter being alike excellent." — Glasgow Daily
Mail.

VIII.

THE STORY OF EXTINCT CIVILIZATIONS
OF THE EAST.
By R. E. Anderson, M.A. With Maps.

"The author has performed a much needed service in a masterly
manner. . . . We have nothing but praise for the work." — Literary
World.

' ' An admirable compendium of a department of knowledge which
has been greatly advanced by the research of recent years." — Aberdeen
Free Press.

IX.

THE STORY OF THE CHEMICAL ELEMENTS.

By M. M. Pattison Muir, M.A., Fellow and Prae-

lector in Chemistry of Gonville and Caius College,

Cambridge.

"One of the most perfect popular introductions to science extant."

— British Medical Journal.

" Prof. Muir tells an enthralling story of the wonderful transforma

tions of matter under the chemist's magic wand. Ignoring formulae

he appeals in homely phrase to the imagination of the reader." —

MTnowledge.

LONDON : GEORGE NEWNES LIMITED, PUBLISHERS.

The
Library of Useful Stories.

THE STORY OF FOREST AND STREAM.

By James Rod way, F.L.S., Author of " In the Guiana
Forest," &c. With 27 Illustrations.
"Contains a short description of a tropical forest, together with
some elementary lessons which can be learned by studying the in-
cessant struggle for existence of its varied flora." — Academy.

"A noteworthy addition to the series in which it appears." — Scots-
man.

XI.

THE STORY OF THE WEATHER.

By G. F. Chambers, F.R.A.S., of the Inner Temple,

Author of "Story of the Stars," &c. With 50

Illustrations.

"An interesting volume about weather, and especially English

weather, and presents facts, ideas, and suggestions which ordinary

people will be glad to know." — St James's Budget.

"Shows how the weather forecasts are drawn up at the Meteoro-
logical Office, explains the construction and use of the various
meteorological instruments, describes the nature and causes of such
phenomena as the aurora borealis, and gives a collection of weather
facts and signs. " — Literary World.

XII.

THE STORY OF THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE.
By Douglas Archibald, M.A., Fellow and some-
time Vice-President of the Royal Meteorological
Society, London. With 44 Illustrations.
' ' One of the best of the Story series that we have read . . . the
author is frequently able from his wide travels to illustrate his remarks
from his own personal experience in climates where meteorological
manifestations can be witnessed on a grander scale than in our own
country. " — Nature.

XIII.

THE STORY OF GERM LIFE: Bacteria.
By H. W. Conn. With 34 Illustrations.
' ' Though a popular work, the Story of Germ Life, as told by Prof.
H. W. Conn, is so admirable for its lucidity, terseness, and the
author's grasp of the subject that it may be recommended to anyone
who is desirous of becoming acquainted with the general features of
bacterial life and the baneful and beneficial results of microbic growth
and development." — Journal of Royal Microscopical Society.

LONDON : GEORGE NEWNES LIMITED, PUBLISHERS.

The

Library of Useful Stories.

XIV.

THE STORY OF THE POTTER.

An account of the rise and progress of the principal

manufactures of Pottery and Porcelain. By C. F.

BiNNS. With 57 Illustrations.

" One of an admirable semi-scientific series, and describes the

development of one of the oldest and most picturesque industries in

the world." — Bradford Observer.

" Instructive and useful little book." — Western Mercury.
' ' We can recommend the whole volume to all who care to know
something of one of the oldest and most universal of human arts." —
Guardian.

XV.

THE STORY OF BRITISH COINAGE.

By G. B. Rawlings. With io8 Illustrations from
Coins in the British Museum.
" An excellent little handbook of a subject which should have an
attraction for many Englishmen, even though they are not very ardent
students of numismatics in general." — Times.

"An admirable book, for which no praise could be too high.
It would make a capital comment on the history of England." —
Scotsman.

XVI.

THE STORY OF LIFE IN THE SEAS.

By Sydney J. Hickson, D.Sc, F.R.S., Professor of
Zoology in the Owens College, Manchester. 42 lUustns.

' ' Prof. Hickson is assuredly to be congratulated on the very able
manner in which he has acquitted himself of his task. In the course
of eight chapters, written in pleasant and unaffected style, he gives a
fairly complete sketch of the vertebrate and invertebrate fauna associ-
ated with different marine regions, the surface, the shallow water, and
the depths." — Saturday Review.

' ' Such books as these lay the reader under a deep obligation to
writers of Dr Hickson's eminence in the scientific world." — Spectator,

XVII.

THE STORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

By A. T. Story. With Illustrations.
" Mr Story does not profess to give instructions in the art ; but his
history of its progress, his description of the various forms of apparatus
and the various processes, and his statements of the relation between
photography and the finer arts cannot but impart an intelligent
interest in this versatile handmaiden of science." — Scotsman.

LONDON : GEORGE NEWNES LIMITED, PUBLISHERS.

The

Library of Useful Stories.

XVIII.

THE STORY OF RELIGIONS.
By E. D. Price, F.G.S.
" The author's brief summaries of the different creeds are excellent.
We have tried to find any sect not mentioned in the book, and have
failed. This is the highest tribute we can pay to its completeness." —
Irish Church Times.

XIX.

THE STORY OF THE COTTON PLANT.

By F. Wilkinson, F.G.S., Director of the Textile and
Engineering School, Bolton. With 38 Illustrations.
" AH that is known of the origin of the cotton plant, of its cultiva-
tion and plantation life, of the pests that infest it, and the countries
where it is reared. . . . The survey is wide and complete, and the
story evolved therefrom is throughout most interesting." — North
British Advertiser.

XX.

THE STORY OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY.
By Joseph Jacobs. With 24 Maps, etc.

"A very readable little book. . . . The author has collected his
material with discrimination, and has evidently devoted much time
and care to the preparation of this inspiring little volume. The
recent marked development of imperial instincts should insure the
book the popularity it merits." — Nature.

XXI.

THE STORY OF THE MIND.
By Professor J. M. Baldwin.
"We have seldom read a more thoughtful and suggestive little
production. It can be strongly recommended to students of psy-
chology, to the general reader, and to all who take an interest in
the study and mental upbringing of the young. " — Lancet.

XXII.

THE STORY OF THE BRITISH RACE.

By John Munro. With four Maps.
"The first attempt to bring the important results and views of
anthropologists before the general public in familiar language, and to
a certain extent it is a correction of the traditions. ... If the author
seems to put the claims of anthropology too high, he has written a
book that ought to stimulate enquiry and will guide the uninitiated to
the lines on which anthropological research is being pursued." —
Aberdeen Free Press.

LONDON: GEORGE NEWNES LIMITED, PUBLISHERS.

Conan Doyle's Stories.

THE EXPLOITS OF BRIGADIER GERARD.

With 24 Illustrations by W. B. WoUen. Crown 8vo,
cloth, 3s. 6d.

" In these days of pessimistic problem novels, when the element of
romance seems to be fading out of fiction, it is delightful to come
upon these tales and glories of a soldier's life. They are buoyant,
vital, steeped in the stir and freshness of the open air, abounding in
tragedy and gaiety. ... It is a fascinating book, and one to be
read." — Daily News.

ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

With 25 Illustrations by Sidney Paget. Crown 8vo,
cloth, 3s. 6d.

" For those to whom the good, honest, breathless detective story is
dear, Dr Doyle's book will prove a veritable godsend." — Athenaum.

LAST ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

With 25 Illustrations by Sidney Paget. Crown 8vo,
cloth, 3s. 6d.
" Should become a favourite gift book." — Liverpool Mercury.

THE SIGN OF FOUR.

An Earlier Adventure of Sherlock Holmes. Crown
8vo, cloth, 3s. 6d.

' ' The ' Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ' should be read by all who
desire to improve their faculty of observation. Fathers would do well
to make it a birthday present to their boys, and if they do this, they
certainly may have the comforting thought that the book will be read
from beginning to end. " — Glamorgan Gazette.

THE ROMANCE OF HISTORY.

By Herbert Greenhough Smith. 292 pp., crown
8vo, cloth, 3s. 6d.

A series of graphic sketches of the leading incidents in the lives of
Masaniello, Prince Rupert, Marino Faliero, Bayard, Lithgow,
Jacqueline de Laguette, Vidocq, Lochiel, Casanova. The volume is
printed on antique paper, and bound in old style with uncut edges.

' ' Seldom has the old adage that truth is stranger than fiction been
better exemplified than in some of the incidents related in ' The
Romance of History.' The book is well written and both the subjects
selected and the way in which they are treated leave little to be
desired." — Morning Post.

"Pre-eminently interesting, bright, clear and attractive." — Daily
Chronicle.

LONDON : GEORGE NEWNES LIMITED, PUBLISHERS.

Popular Novels.

AT THE SIGN OF THE GOLDEN HORN.
By John K. Leys. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3s. 6d.

SHAFTS FROM AN EASTERN QUIVER.

By Charles J. Mansford. With 25 Illustrations by
Alfred Pearse. Cloth, 3s. 6d.

' ' Mr Mansford has the gift of a story-teller, and he uniformly
writes like a scholar. . . . The illustrations, though small, are ad-
mirably executed, and enhance the piquancy — though that was hardly
needed — of the letterpress." — Spectator.

THE BEECHCOURT MYSTERY.
By Carlton Strange. Cloth, 3s. 6d.

"A novel and well-constructed plot." — Liverpool Courier.

WHAT'S BRED IN THE BONE.
By Grant Allen. Cloth, 3s. 6d.

HEARTS OF GOLD AND HEARTS OF STEEL.
By the late Henry Herman. Cloth, 3s. 6d.

FOR GOD AND THE CZAR.

A Story of Jewish Persecutions in Russia. By J. E.
MUDDOCK. Cloth, 3s. 6d.

ONLY A WOMAN'S HEART.

The Story of a Woman's Love : A Woman's Sorrow.
By J. E. MUDDOCK. Cloth, 3s. 6d.

' ' Has an air of heartiness about it, and its plot is well worked out."
— Academy.

THE RUBIES OF RAJMAR; or, Mr Charlecote's
Daughters.
A Romance. By Mrs Egerton Eastwick (Pleydell
North). Cloth, 3s. 6d.

" Throughout, the plot is well conceived, its treatment is terse and
vigorous, and the series of exciting incidents by which the denouement
is reached, form a narrative well worth reading." — W. Le Queux ia
The Literary World.

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THE KING OF THE BRONCOS, and Other

Stories of New Mexico.
By Chas. J. LUMMIS. With Portrait and 8 full-page
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of it with affection. . . . All the stories are excellent reading, and
some of them are dramatic." — Manchester Guardian.

' ' All boys will enjoy ' The King of the Broncos "... truly exciting
stories of a West which is still largely deserving of the title of wild." —
Daily Telegraph.

THE KING'S OAK, and Other Stories.

By Robert Cromie, Author of "The Crack of
Doom," &c. 130 pp., IS. Cloth, 2S.

" Five well-written and entertaining stories." — Literary World.

" Short stories, bright and dramatic." — To-day.

" A capital collection of short stories." — Black and White.

THE LOST LINER.

By Robert Cromie. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3s. 6d.

STORIES FROM THE DIARY OF A DOCTOR.

By L. T. Meade and Clifford Halifax, M.D.,
Authors of " The Medicine Lady." With 24 Illustra-
tions by A. Pearse. Cloth extra, 6s.

" Cleverly-planned and brightly-told stories." — Bradford Observer.
" They are well told and salient in every feature." — Leeds Mercury.

MEMOIRS OF A MOTHER-IN-LAW.
By George R. Sims. Cloth, 2s. 6d.

" This is a pleasant sample of ' Dagonet's ' semi-humorous writings.
He has a peculiar talent of finding amusement in experiences relating
to dwellings, servants, shopkeepers, tradespeople, and other folk con-
nected with the domestic household, and the ' Mother-in- Law ' in his
new book deals in a very masterful way with all the foregoing subjects,
and many more besides." — Freeman' s Journal.

TWO GIRLS.

By Amy E. Blanchard. With Illustrations by Ida
Waugh. Cloth extra, 3s. 6d.

"A delightful addition to the girls' bookshelf." — Gentlewoman.
"A bright sparkling story for girls, brimful of innocent fun." —
Liverpool Courier.

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The Queen and her Reign.

PIONEER WOMEN IN VICTORIA'S REIGN.

Being short Histories of Great Movements. By Edwin
A. Pratt. Crown 8vo, cloth, 5s. ; paper covers, is.

" A survey given with great skill and effect." — Times.

" H is chapters on Women's Work in Emigration and in Medicine
are admirable." — Pall Mall Gazette.

' ' The nursing record of Queen Victoria's Reign, ably told here, will
interest so many f)eople just now." — St fames' s Gazette.

A WOMAN'S WORK FOR WOMEN.

Being an account of the Philanthropic Work of Miss
L. M. Hubbard. By E. A. Pratt. Small crown
8vo, cloth.

QUEEN VICTORIA'S DOLLS.

By Frances H. Low. With 40 Full-page Coloured
Illustrations and numerous Sketches and Initial Letters,
by Alan Wright. Cheap Edition, crown 4to, 5s.

" No one who has not perused this entertaining record can in reality
appreciate the diligent, alert child-life of Britain's truest gentlewoman.
The full-page coloured illustration, showing the dolls in their gorgeous
costumes, and wooden attitudes, are almost as naive as they are
excellent." — The Gentlewoman.

THE PRINCESS OF WALES: A Biographical
Sketch.

By Mary Spencer-Warren. With Portraits of the
Princess at various periods, and Illustrations from
Photographs taken in Denmark, and at Sandringham,
Marlborough House, &c. With 53 Portraits and
Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 5s.

"An excellent biography . . . narrated with admirable simplicity
and lucidity." — Westminster Review.

THE VICTORIAN ERA : A Graphic Record of
A Glorious Reign.

By R. E. Anderson, M.A. With 136 Illustrations
and with Photographic Portrait of the Queen. Cloth, 2S.

LONDON : GEORGE NEWNES LIMITED, PUBLISHERS.

THE ORACLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA.

Profusely Illustrated. Edited by R. W. Egerton
Eastwick, B.A. (of the Middle Temple), complete in
5 vols., price 30s., or in half morocco, 52s. 6d.

SONGS OF CHILDHOOD.

Verses by Eugene Field. Music by Reginald
DE Koven and others. Music 4to, cloth extra, gilt
leaves, 7s. 6d.
" It is the best compliment to the music to say that its pretty tune-
fulness is not unworthy of the words. There are songs here that will
go straight to a child's heart, and not one that will miss the child-
lover. " — Pall Mall Gazette.

A LITTLE BOOK OF PLAYS, FOR PROFES-
SIONAL AND AMATEUR ACTORS.
Adapted from the French by CONSTANCE Beerbohm.
With 22 Illustrations of Scenes. Paper covers, is.
"An excellent collection of short dramatic sketches, suited to the
requirements of amateurs." — Black and White.

AIDS TO HEALTH AND BEAUTY.

A Complete Toilet Guide. By Miranda. Second
Edition. Long 8vo, is.

WRINKLES FOR CYCLISTS.

By G. Lacy Hillier. Small crown 8vo, is.

THE HUB CYCLING MAP OF ENGLAND AND
WALES.
By J. Bartholomew, F.R.G.S. Printed in colours
and folded in pocket case, 6d. ; mounted on linen, is,

THE CYCLIST'S POCKET BOOK, 1899.

Containing Cyclist's Almanack, Road Measures of
various countries. Hints on Touring, Tyres, Gearing,
the Common Ailments of a Machine, First Aids to the
Injured, a List of Foreign Cyclist Clubs, the Laws re-
garding the importation of Cycles into Foreign Coun-
tries, the Law relating to Horseless Carriages, &c.
Cloth, IS. ; leather, is. 6d.

THE COAST TRIPS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

Prefaced by a Description of the Thames Scenery
from London Bridge to the Nore. Compiled by
Milton Smith, and profusely illustrated with Original
Sketches by W. T. Whitehead. 6d.

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A New Series of
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MR MIDSHIPMAN EASY.

By Captain Marryat.
JANE EYRE.

By Charlotte Bronte.
JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN.

By Miss MULOCK.
THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

By Fenimore Cooper.
SHIRLEY.

By Charlotte Bronte.

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i6mo, cloth extra, Sd. each.
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Two Allegories by the Rev. WILLIAM Adams. With

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HILLS.

Two Allegories by the same author. With Frontispieces.
THE COMBATANTS.

An Allegory by the Rev. EDWARD MONRO. With

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A Poem in Four Sermons. By W. C. GANNETT.

With four Illustrations.
PARABLES FROM NATURE.

By Mrs Alfred Gattv.

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MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.
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THE SIGN OF FOUR: AN EARLY ADVENTURE
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SHIPS THAT PASS IN THE NIGHT.
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ROBERT ELSMERE.

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TIT-BITS MONSTER RECITATION BOOK.

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TIT-BITS MONSTER ALMANACK FOR 1899.
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Just what Evening School Teachers want.

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LONDON : GEORGE NEWNES LIMITED, PUBLISHERS.

The Ladies' Field

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I. Newest designs in English and Parisian Fashions.

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VIII. A Woman's Way. By Ella Hepworth Dixon.

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XIV. Palmistry. Competitions. In Hymen's Realms,

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